In the Midst - A Fallout Story
by CxltOfPersonality
Summary: An unlikely trio get caught in a web of deceit and conspiracy when NCR Chief Hanlon is found dead outside of Camp Golf and General Oliver has seemingly vanished. These three men, a disgraced former NCR medic, an ex-Legionary and a Brotherhood of Steel member imprisoned are brought together and sent out to find the truth for the NCR or face execution at their hands.
1. Chapter 1

**CONNOR KIRKBRIDE BRENDAN SAWYER SHAUN MORSE**

 **IN THE MIDST**

 **A FALLOUT STORY**

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **8:48PM, WEDNESDAY MAY 7TH, 2282, NOVAC, MOJAVE WASTELAND**

Sand and dust got blown through the air the same as any other day, with the occasional tumbleweed making its pass through the streets. Novac, the small rural town in the Mojave notorious for its dinosaur statue and being named after a 'No Vacancy' sign that had been busted a long time. This town is where people come to settle, work, pass their time and it was a good place to stop for a night while on the road. If you could put up with the sometimes unreasonable prices for motel rooms, Ada Straus' prices for sometimes sloppy medical work and the man named No Bark and his crazy sayings, then you could settle in this town. It was constantly protected by two former NCR sniper's, Craig Boone and Manny Vargas, who switched shift during day and night to keep the town safe from anything from Feral Ghouls to Golden Geckos. This town had been a lot more cautious after the former Motel owner Jeannie May Crawford was killed by Ghouls just in front of the statue. Her prices were ridiculous at times but she was the town Mom and kept the peace if trouble ever arose. Since then Andy, the half crippled former NCR Ranger, kept the peace in town, which was fine with most, especially Boone and Manny. Peaceful but for others, like Connor Kirkbride, the former NCR medic, it was just a place at the end of the world to live in self-exile. Connor had been a medic in the New California Republic for six years before being dishonorably discharged for deserting his battalion during a large showdown with the Legion at Camp Golf a year before. He and his team were as good as dead but Connor decided that he'd rather run than be crucified, an option any sane and rational human being would've chose, nobody in the Mojave wanted to be crucified by the Legion. Strung up on crosses and left to die, and it took a long time to at that. Connor's battalion were either dead or dying when he made his escape by plunging into Lake Las Vegas and swimming out the other side before making a run for it over the hills until he reached the 188 Trading Outpost. When he arrived there he managed to contact his superiors at Camp McCarran. Three days later he was thrown out of McCarren with his duffel bag filled and told if he was to come back he would be imprisoned for life. Connor then made his way across the Mojave before he finally got to Novac where he now spends his time doing only two things; working and drinking. He works part time at the Dino Bite Gift Shop to mostly fulfill his drinking habits, earning his caps to buy alcohol from passing merchants daily. Connor had not agreed with the NCR's decision on him but while he did accept that what he did during the Camp Golf attack was not wrong, he did regret it. The NCR were a faction built on protecting the innocents of the Mojave, and what he had done went completely against that. Due to this Connor was incredibly loathsome of himself, drinking to forget and feel better about himself, even if that just meant forgetting who he was for an entire night. He wore casual pre-war clothes as they were called but carried his badge from his NCR uniform with him everywhere. Connor had made friends with Boone and Manny due to him also being from the NCR, but made a stronger connection with Boone who had also descended into self-hatred for his own reasons.

"You never miss, huh?" Connor asked.

"No, at least not very often" Boone answered.

"I can't believe I spent six years in the republic but never came across you." The former medic stated.

"The idea of the 1st Recon units were that we were never seen, that probably had something to do with it." Boone mumbled.

"I guess that's the problem with being a medic, you're always right in plain sight for the fucking enemy." Connor grunted.

"Medics are there to make sure the other soldiers are able to keep fighting because most medics are useless." Boone replied.

"No offence."

"None taken, I proved my uselessness when I ran from Camp Golf instead of fighting. I could've been captured, crucified, enslaved or died fighting, but I ran." The ex-medic stated, either to Boone directly or to himself, unclear which.

"I don't blame people for running, but if I had the chance to keep killing Legionaries, I'd have took it, but then again my hatred for those cunts goes way deeper than yours." Boone said calmly.

Connor listened to Boone, both men were sitting side by side in the medical tent just at the entrance of town, Ada would let them sit in there and drink until Boones next shift. Rum, Whiskey and Scotch were all they drank. Connor finished another full glass of scotch before reaching to pour out another.

"Would you believe I was saved by a legionary?" Connor asked, tipsy.

"I wouldn't care if you were, it doesn't change who they are." Boone replied.

"I know, and it didn't change my view on them, but it changed my view on this one member." Connor stated bluntly to the 1st Recon beret.

Boone looked in Connor's direction, but even at dusk Boone wore his sunglasses, so Connor couldn't really tell if he was looking at him or not, but didn't care.

"Was about a week before what went down at Camp Golf, me and my battalion had captured three legionary fucks on the road towards Primm after they tried to take us down. We injured all three of 'em, one looked pretty fucking bad. We cuffed them up and told them they were coming with us, back to Mojave Outpost, but that ain't what happened. On the road there, at some Highway Patrol Station, a group of five raiders ambushed us. There was three of us, the three injured Crimson's and now five raiders, we weren't a force to be reckoned with at the time so one of my team was dead pretty quick, bullet to the head, point blank from behind, his head and brain went everywhere. We tried to fight 'em off but during the crossfire, I took one in the left arm clean while my other buddy managed to take another two of the raiding fucks down with his Repeater but it wasn't enough, he and two of the injured Legions were beaten in the head with tire irons and I was sure I was next. But then, the third Crimson, I don't understand how but his cuffs were off and he tackled me to the floor. At first I thought he was attacking me so I tried to fight him off as you would fucking do but before I knew it he was off me and had taken my 9mm. He took down another two raider with clean shots to the faces. He'd gotten me out of the way of a bullet. Only one raider was there afterwards, on his knees begging, but after they killed my two buddies I wasn't gonna let this Legion member who had just saved my ass take all the glory. So I took back my 9mm and shot the last guy dead, I remember the way the bullet hit him in the eye, turned it into a bloody, gooey black hole." Connor rambled grimly for minutes on end.

Boone just listened, the 1st Recon sniper had been through more shit than anyone else in Novac, Manny Vargas included, but listening to Connor's story really hit him clearly. Maybe it was the way Connor told a story, or maybe he was stunned to find out that a Legion member had saved an NCR medic during an ambush.

"What'd you do then?" Boone asked, clearly entranced by the tale.

"I cuffed him back up and kept on pushing him to Mojave Outpost, all the way there thoughts went through my head back and forth like the times I chose which girl to fuck at Gomorrah. But by the time we were at the bottom of the bank, looking up at the statue, we could see another small squad sent my Ranger Jackson, probably heard the gunfire from what had happened. Before they could make us out I uncuffed him. I told him fair is fair and that he better get outer the area fast. He knew my surname, since it was sewed on my uniform. _So long Kirkbride_ he said to me, so I asked him his name, this isn't any romantic story shit, this is a man who just saved my fucking life. I told him happy trails and before I knew it he was way in the distance heading through Nipton. I explained what had happened at the Patrol Station to Jackson's squad and we gave the guys a proper burial, but burned the dead legion bodies and left the raiders to be eaten by whatever the fuck. I still wonder now where that crimson member ended up, or why exactly he saved my ass when he did. I hope I get to know." Connor finished his tale before finishing his glass of scotch.

"It's not good to wonder, it kills you slowly." Boone stated whilst getting up off his seat, his shift for the night just starting.

"Especially not about crimson's who have a temporary change of heart."

"Wondering is what's keeping me alive Boone, nothing else do I have." Connor smirked while pouring another glass.

Boone looked at him for a moment in silence.

"What was his name, the legion member?" Boone asked.

Connor immediately drank the glass that he just poured, gritted his teeth as it burned his throat and made a grunt.

"Sawyer."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

 **10:09AM, THURSDAY MAY 8TH, 2282, MOJAVE WASTELAND**

Boiled so hot that you may as well been walking on fire, the sun roasted the rubble and crack filled roads and hills near Goodsprings. Gecko's crackled their voices and waddled fast towards the man that had been running from them for hours at this point. He had kicked dust in their faces for at least a quarter of a day, having made his way from the NCR Correctional Facility and further. Brendan Sawyer, the former legion member and now simple wanderer of the wastes. Brendan had been with Caesars Legion for many years, killing and marauding innocent people all just for one man's wishes. It had been a year since he cut himself loose from the Legion and went his own way, just to be hunted and found by them days later. Brendan was excellent with firearms, especially shotguns, but unfortunately at this point, he had no shells to take out the Gecko's on his tail. Brendan could see buildings and houses in the distance, he knew which town he was closest to, and it was Goodsprings, the small rural town that tried to keep peace with everyone that happened to travel through it. He had been here before, and it was no doubt in the ex-Legion members mind that they would recognize his face as soon as they saw him, but hopefully they would forgive him now that he had been free from the Legion for a year. During the war between the NCR and the Legion in 2281 over Hoover Dam, Brendan and a team of Legion Hitmen had come through Goodsprings and made their name and authority known by taking one resident, stringing him up on a cross and setting him ablaze in front of every citizen of the town. Brendan knew what they were doing was wrong, at least to him and everyone not part of the Legion, even though he was. He had never agreed with the Legion's brutal ways of dominating everyone else in the Mojave but they had been loyal to him for years and considered them his family. But he knew what the word 'Family' meant. You could have a family member who does nothing but drugs, can't hold a job, and his home from home is a jail cell, but they're still family. This is just the way Brendan thought of the Legion after an amount of time spent with them. After burning the Goodsprings settler alive on the cross, the residents left were in tears, some breaking down, especially the Bar owner. People cursed Brendan and his fellow Legionaries as they left town, something he never forgot. Brendan couldn't remember exactly, but he was sure that he had sworn to himself never to return to this town due to the misery and sadness he and the Legion had caused while there. But yet here he was, a scorching hot day in the Mojave, wearing nothing but leather armour that had been damaged so much it had no armoury effect. Running from Gecko's and having ran out of ammo days before in a shootout with Fiends. Brendan had two options, run to Goodsprings, hope they didn't recognize or remember him, but that was doubtful, nobody in the Wasteland ever forgot a face, especially a face that brought anger. Or he could turn around and fight the Gecko's the old fashioned way but most probably come out dead. Option one was what he was going for and he was running up the road towards this town, past Goodsprings Source and the skeleton of a person who had been killed by presumably what he was running from. Brendan saw something while he was getting closer, something small framed and darkly coloured. He kept turning his head back and forth to see how far he was from the Gecko's and how far he was from this person he thought. Loud noises is what he heard next, barks from a dog, that is what he was seeing in the distance, a Dog, a canine that knew trouble with its own nose. Barking and barking this dog was loud and with its barking came a woman behind it, all leather armour as well except hers was perfect. She was orange haired and carrying a rifle in her arms.

"I see 'em!" She yelled at the dog, and it immediately stopped barking.

This woman aimed her rifle in Brendan's direction and he stopped, out of breath and put his hands up.

"Get on the fucking ground, idiot!" The woman shouted to him.

Brendan did as she told him, he dived to the ground and what followed was about five gun shots, from her rifle. Brendan's eyes and face were tight, like he could feel the bullets skimming past his ear. He looked behind him and the Gecko's he had been running from were all dead, their heads lying in small puddles of blood mixed with sand. Footsteps he could hear approaching him, louder and louder before he looked up above him.

"You look tired, been running from them a while?" This woman asked.

"Just about six hours, I may look in shape, but I'm incredibly out of it." The former legionary replied to this ginger, clear dog loving and quite honestly beautiful woman.

"That's a shame, you were in shape the last time I saw you, what happened?" She asked him.

Brendan knew now and slowly closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, it hadn't taken a minute before she knew exactly who he was.

"Get the fuck up, now." She ordered pointing the Varmant rifle in his face.

"You're the boss babe." Brendan replied, slowly lifting his hands in the air.

"Look, I'm not with the Leg-"

"Shut your fucking mouth and get in front of me." She interrupted him, pointing the muzzle of her rifle in the direction she wanted him to go.

He looked at her as he put his hands on the back of his head and intertwined his fingers.

"Move!" She yelled whilst poking him in the back with the rifle's muzzle.

Brendan listened and slowly started walking towards town, he knew he was in deep shit now, maybe worse than being in shit with Gecko's, but god knew he was happy to be walking now rather than running. Nothing was said by this gorgeous woman on the ten minute walk into town, but he could feel her eyes and judgment on him, luckily he welcomed both at this point in his life. As they got into town and walked through the small streets, past the houses and the gardens outside of them he was met with the eyes and judgment of everyone. People stopped doing what they were doing, gardening or packing up Brahmins just to give Brendan a death stare. It was clear now that every single resident of Goodsprings knew him, and his face had never left their minds since the day him and the Hitmen legionaries left. This woman and her dog which she called 'Chey' or something, he didn't care, pushed him and told him to stop in place when they got outside of the Saloon and the General Store.

"Don't you fucking move." She told him before walking up to the Saloon door.

She opened the door slightly and poked her head in.

"Trudy! Would you come on out here?" She asked the Saloon owner.

By now a small crowd had gathered around Brendan, the Store owner came out to see, the frail old bald man in the farmer outfit and the even older dark man with a white beard wearing the same. Dead eyes everywhere he looked, not one face with the slightest hint of empathy or compassion.

"Motherfucker." The general store owner grunted.

"Thanks for that, but just so you know sir, I have never had intercourse with my Mother, she wouldn't and neither would I." Brendan replied with sarcasm and a crunched face.

Before he knew it, the ginger woman had her rifle on his face, pushing his head back slightly.

"Shut the fuck up! Did we tell you to talk?!" She said angrily.

"Sunny, that's okay, let him talk, let him dig his grave himself." Said the Saloon owner, with a slight hint of pity.

That was this woman's name, Sunny, looked like the towns protector, packing the rifle and perfect leather armour, along with a loyal dog.

Trudy walked over to him slowly, she was the town Mom and had been here running the Saloon for eight years.

"What on this scorched fucking earth made you think you were welcome here, or better yet, what wire in your head got loose to make you even consider coming here?" Trudy rudely asked him.

"I was gonna die from Gecko's, I wasn't gonna let that happen so I figured you fine people might have helped me out, turns out you did, but you're right. I should've realized that the Gecko's wouldn't kill me but all of you would anyways." Brendan replied sharply, without even looking into her eyes.

Trudy smirked and let out a small laugh while looking him dead in the eyes, which he returned.

"Kill you? No, we're not murderers, not like Legionary bastards like yourself." Trudy scowled.

Brendan wanted to correct her comment but thought he wouldn't interrupt her speech which began with the statement that they wouldn't kill him.

"You see after the war between the NCR and you evil people a year ago, the NCR gave us a small emergency radio, to call them if we ever needed help. I'm gonna call them now, and I'm gonna let them deal with you, because since we're not killers and will stick to that statement, we'll give the honors to the NCR." She said proudly with the hint of a smile.

Brendan could hold his tongue no longer, he liked this woman, the way she lead this town's folk and proudly talked about condemning a man to death or eternal punishment, but no longer would he stay silent.

"Look at me, Trudy is it? Do you see Legionary armour on my body?" Brendan asked.

Trudy did not reply.

"No you don't, because I am not a legionary any longer, haven't been for a year now. Correct me also if I am wrong, but was it me who murdered your town resident all that time ago? Because as far as I remember, I just kept you all on your knees and watched what happened just as you all did. So before you go calling me a murderer and stating that you're all some kind of group of saint's even after the notorious story of you all massacring a group of Powder Gangers, you may want to think again and crawl out of your own asses." Brendan replied smoothly.

 _Crack!_ Brendan felt a burning blow across his left cheek suddenly. Trudy had slapped him hard, maybe she had wanted to do that since she saw him, maybe out of hate, pity or just maybe because Brendan's statements were entirely correct. Brendan chuckled with his mouth wide open and slowly turned his face back to her.

"I guess I was right somewhere in there." He laughed.

Trudy turned to Sunny.

"Tie him up and take him up to the Gas Station while we wait for the NCR to get here. Since we _are_ good people and _not_ evil, take some food and water up for him in a few hours." Trudy had kindly ordered Sunny whilst also looking in his eyes.

Brendan once again had something to say, but just like before, her last sentence was a kind one that benefited him, and since he was thirsty and starving, he wasn't about to risk changing her mind.

He was then slowly bound in strong rope by his hands and his feet, but in the way that he could still walk, and then lead up the hill to the abandoned gas station. Inside was a grim mess but there was something comfy about it, and surprisingly there was a sleeping bag already there on the floor, slightly covering an empty safe.

"All of the Sarsaparilla boxes are empty so don't even bother." Sunny had told him straight with her eyebrows raised.

Brendan looked around the small room and smiled to himself.

"Thank you, for today, I wished to god during that run that some miracle would save me, and then there you appeared." He said suggestively to Sunny.

"You flirt with me again and I'll take my knife to your balls." Sunny threatened again with a wide face.

"If that's what you're into then so be it babe." Brendan smirked.

"Shut up, I'll be up in an hour with your shit on a plate." Sunny said without looking whilst walking out the door and slammed it shut behind her.

"Thanks." Brendan said to himself.

Hours past and Sunny had not returned with his food and water, but this didn't bother him, Brendan enjoyed time alone now, to his thoughts. Over the past year he had found a lot of spots to sit alone and just think on things, his past, his present and where the hell he may be going in life, but nothing ever really changed. _The sad truth of life, is that everything ends up the same and nothing ever changes,_ Brendan had said to a few people on his travels since abandoning the Legion. He knew it sounded cliché and he knew that nobody would really believe him, but the reason he abandoned the Legion was because of the simple reason that he was a human being. He had saw what they did over and over again until he couldn't watch it any longer, he would always love the Legion for taking him in, being loyal to him, and loving him, but no longer would he watch, but neither would he stop them. Brendan just left, he left the Legion behind, and like every faction in the Mojave Wasteland, they wouldn't let him and they didn't like it. Brendan was captured after leaving the Legion and sentenced to death on the cross, he was being lead back to The Fort by two Legionaries the day they were captured by a small squad of NCR soldiers. That day he was freed, by his own good nature, and by the good nature of an NCR medic whose life he had saved. God knows the NCR squad that day didn't realize that he was on his way that time to be executed, but he wasn't going to say that. During the fight with raiders that day, the Legionaries were killed, as were two of the NCR soldiers, but the third and remaining guy, who he saved, let him go in exchange. Brendan never forgot that, what had been an act of some kind of redemption for him, turned into him escaping from both the Legion's and NCR's grasp. _Kirkbride_ was his name, Brendan remembered that and told him his surname but not his first, thought it was pointless seeing as it was unlikely they would see each other again. It was thanks to that Soldier Brendan was still alive and not in NCR custody, but yet here he was, due to his own real fault, awaiting that very same thing.

Suddenly the gas stations door opened and in came the gorgeous Sunny, carrying a small tray. He noticed as she walked around what a very nice figure she had, along with an incredible backside he enjoyed watching leave. On his tray was a plate of Brahmin meat, not a lot but more than expected and a full bottle of dirty water, better than anything he had drank recently. He was surprised that Goodsprings had shown so much kindness to him, despite leaving him to the NCR. Brendan was relieved in a way, because the reason he left the Legion was because he could not do bad things to innocent people any longer, and his belief that these people were innocent and good hearted was completely correct in this moment, and it was moments like this, that kindness in others, that made him know his decision was right. Hours past and it was late in the day, sun was setting and he had gotten about an hour of sleep at most, before he heard the door open again behind him. Loud sounds of boots got louder and louder over to him, he knew who it was.

"Pick him up off the floor." Somebody ordered, a soldier's voice, you could tell.

Brendan was dragged to his feet roughly and was then faced with three NCR soldiers again, not the same ones but they all looked the same. Three soldiers, Trudy and Sunny, all looking at him.

"Disturbing the peace you son of a bitch?" A soldier asked.

"Just looking for a place to stay, I got one." Brendan replied smiling.

"Oh good, you wanna place to stay? We got one for you, got nice bar's to look at." Another soldier blurted out.

"Excellent, I like bars, what drinks it got?" Brendan asked sarcastically.

 _Wham!_ Brendan was punched in the stomach, stunning his whole body and causing him to cough, making him hate his witty and sarcastic nature for a few moments.

"You're gonna love your new cell mate." A soldier smiled.

"He'll let you talk shit to him and do nothing, because he don't speak much himself." He continued.

"Oh yeah, what kinda idiot's that? A guy who doesn't even talk to the NCR?" Brendan grunted, still in pain.

The soldier chuckled.

"You'll love him being a legionary and all, he's from the Brotherhood of Steel."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

 **7:42AM, FRIDAY MAY 9TH, 2282, CAMP MCCARRAN**

Stink. That's all this place did was stink. It stunk of just the smell of dampness and probably shit from each cell toilet. Camp McCarran was the NCR base just outside of New Vegas and the biggest one in the Mojave Wasteland, you couldn't miss it, and if you were in trouble with the Republic, you'd do best not to walk near it. McCarran was where all of the decision were made, where the soldiers trained and readied for the Wasteland. Highest guy in command was Colonel James Hsu, he ran the show around here. NCR, most people in the Wasteland tolerated them and enjoyed their protection, but that didn't mean they necessarily liked them. _Out for themselves_ most would say about it, but the Republic always had the innocent citizens of the Mojave's best interests at heart. Mostly. NCR tried to protect everyone from every threat, from Raiders to the Legion, but one thing that the NCR never allowed any part in the Mojave's order was the Brotherhood of Steel. Members of the Brotherhood came to the Mojave from the Capital Wasteland in search for more supplies as there's were dwindling, but were met with hostility from the Republic, for reasons not fully known. Rumours that the NCR wanted full dominance over the Mojave and would share with nobody, but also rumours that the Brotherhood tried to take over from the NCR out of greed, either could be true or false. Operation Sunburst eventually was the reason the Brotherhood retreated from HELIOS one to Hidden Valley near the NCRCF after being defeated by the Republic. Only very few remnants of the Brotherhood were still in the Mojave, all at Hidden Valley. Shaun Morse is one of these remaining members, very far from his home in the Capital Wasteland, he came to the Mojave years ago with a large battalion of Brotherhood members until Sunburst. Shaun had been in a prison cell at McCarran for around eight months as dawn broke on this May morning. Squads of NCR troops found him banging on the gates of McCarran demanding to be let in, instead of hearing him out, as little as he spoke, they surrounded him, destroyed his armour and threw him in the cell for trespassing and conspiring to attack the NCR. It had now been eight months for Shaun of living rough, dirty water, dirty bread, shitting on a toilet with no seat, sleeping on a bed full of dust and having nothing but a hose to wash with. Still, it never really bother Shaun, a quiet man always brooding and saying very little. This Brotherhood member was used to living rough, on the road from DC he and his ream were used to living rough and ever since the NCR took away their home in the Mojave, living rough was his life. But this, Shaun constantly doubted if he would wish this on his worst enemy, and it was obvious more than anything, that his worst enemy was the people putting him through this, the New California Republic. Shaun had been interrogated more times than he could remember since arriving at those gates and being dragged into these cells. Interrogations were normal to trespassers, but luckily they were never violent interrogations, those were reserved for Legionary members. Shaun had been asked nicely throughout his questionings, but he always sat silent and never replied. He was loyal to his brothers in steel, but he knew why they had never came to find him or rescue him from captivity, if they even knew he was captive. Brotherhood of Steel, the name was notorious throughout the Post-war world, they were a ruler in the Capital Wasteland, but in the Mojave they were almost nothing, and had almost nothing than just small pockets of each other, and that is why Shaun would always forgive them for abandoning him, because they simply didn't have the manpower or power in general to rescue him and god knew the NCR would never negotiate with them. This former Brotherhood member was as tough as he was quiet, with his brown hair slicked over one side of his face and a miserable face that was obviously always thinking. He may not have spoken out loud so often, but talking in his head is something he did all the time.

"Morse. You been with the Brotherhood long or did they luck you out of the Mojave against your will?" Sergeant Boyd asked in one of his first interrogations.

He never replied, he wouldn't, because he knew that whatever he said to the NCR, no matter how much he talked sweetly about the Steel Brotherhood, they would listen to him, but they wouldn't hear him. Shaun was forced to sit in his cell and listen to explosions and gunfire during the final battled between the NCR and the Legion in October 2281, just a month after he was captured. During those battles Shaun didn't know whether he wanted the NCR to lose or the Legion, all he could think about was his Brothers in Hidden Valley, hoping they were safe. Finally, when everything was over, Shaun's thoughts were once again conflicted because the NCR were seemingly still alive and nothing changed, but he overheard soldiers, apparently the Legion had been defeated. He was both relieved but also sad, there went his chance to return to his brothers, who were never mentioned, something that both bothered him and made him happy. The mostly silent Steel brother never liked the Legion, but also never liked the NCR, so he had no real problem with the Legion's war with them, but he didn't agree with the things he had heard about these followers of Caesar. Overall, Shaun was imprisoned with an army he hated and who hated him right back simply based on the armour he wore, and had little faith left in humanity after the past few years, other than of course his brothers in steel. It had been eight months since he spoken to anyone, or had any form of company other than himself and his own thoughts. That was until this day, a day that he didn't see coming, a day that would change everything. He could hear noises coming from down the main hall of McCarran's main building. Boots, soldiers' voices and another voice he didn't recognize.

"I'm not even with the Legion! Don't you all speak the common fucking tongue?" he heard from this unfamiliar voice.

Shaun watched, he was sat down, back against his cell's rotten crumbled wall, knees up against his chest and his head leaning on his right hand. Three NCR troops dragged in a man in baggy leather armour.

"We speak English, but one of our jobs is telling when a person is speaking bullshit!" One soldier yelled.

"Then with all due respect, you're doing your job terrible, because I'm telling the fucking truth." The man replied.

These soldiers then pulled out the cell keys and opened up Shaun's cell, none of what was happening in front of him even making him flinch. His cell door was pulled open and this strange man was tossed in the same way Shaun was eight months previous, landing hard on his face.

"Hope you two make friends. A legionary and a steel piece of shit in one cell, never thought I'd see the day." This cocky soldier laughed before relocking the cell door and walking out of the room.

The strange man lifted himself from the floor onto his backside and rubbed his face of the dust and dirt that had covered it when he hit the floor. Shaun was looking directly at him as he looked right back.

"So, you're the guy with the Brotherhood, huh?" This strange man that had been called a Legionary asked.

Shaun did not reply but watched as the man reached out his hand.

"Brendan Sawyer, nice to meet you." Brendan sad whilst making sure his jaw was in check.

Shaun didn't respond verbally, nor did he shake Brendan's hand, who just looked and understood immediately.

"It's okay, I'm used to people disliking me recently. I know that fuck called me a legionary but I ain't that no more." Brendan attempted to reassure his new cell mate.

Shaun still didn't respond.

"Not much of a talker huh?" Brendan asked, twisted eyebrows in confusion before looking away.

"When I have something to say, yeah." Shaun finally replied, maybe the first time he had spoken in eight months. This man may have been a legionary or not, but since he wasn't with the NCR, he was the only man right now he could really speak to. Brendan turned back to him quickly now that he had spoken.

"They tell me you've been here awhile, that true?" Brendan asked, trying to get to know the Brotherhood of Steel soldier.

"Eight months, since before the second battle at the Dam." He growled.

"Eight months in NCR custody? My god I couldn't imagine that." Brendan felt sympathy for this man.

"What've you done to be brought here?" Shaun then asked Brendan.

"Long story, I don't feel like boring you." The former legionary replied.

"I've been bored for eight fucking months." Shaun raised his voice a slight bit.

Brendan was taken aback, this man had went from a gaunt face with no voice, to a normal talker, to an intimidating person in the space of two minutes.

"Okay, I'll tell you, I'm not sure how I am with telling stories, but I guess I'll find out." Brendan yielded.

For about an hour Brendan explained his entire situation to Shaun who to a certain degree sympathized with the former Legion soldier. He had been on the run through the Mojave wasteland for longer than he had been in prison. Shaun felt for him, as much as Brendan felt back. Shaun explained just what had happened to him and how he came to be imprisoned.

"Over in DC, our supplies were dwindling, water, food, weapons and ammo. So when we heard of the Mojave and New Vegas, well we took our chances. The Brotherhood sent out a large army to head here and hopefully negotiate supplies in exchange for, I don't know, maybe an alliance. You know about what happened at HELIOs so I'm not gonna get into that, but that pretty much crippled us here. Years went by after Operation Sunburst and we were once again on dwindling supplies, so on September 8th last year, I was sent here to McCarran to negotiate with the NCR to let us simply walk out of the Mojave, leaving everything here and letting them keep their dominance, but after providing us with the supplies we needed for the road back to DC and as compensation for killing a lot of us. I didn't even get to ask, as soon as I got to the gates I was stripped of my armour, it was blown to pieces and I was thrown in here. Only times I've ever been let out have been for interrogations." Shaun told Brendan, the former legionary was both stunned and also not very surprised, this sounded like the NCR, they would never listen to any other army.

"You've never told the NCR anything?" Brendan asked calmly, almost a whisper.

"Never, they weren't willing to listen in the first place so I am telling them nothing. I'll die here if it means making sure my brothers are safe." Shaun stated bluntly and proudly.

"Well I admit, I admire your loyalty to the Brotherhood." Brendan nodded.

Both the former legionary and the steel brother could then hear a small commotion coming from the main hallway but thought nothing of it. Both of these men were broken, their lives turned upside down. Brendan loathed life due to the fact that he had expected good things to come from leaving Caesars legion but instead just worse luck followed. He cared less and less every day that passed. The Brother of steel had tried as hard as possible in his tightly enclosed mind to stay in the right frame after all of this time in a cell, but like it would to any human, this cell and the eight months of isolation had changed Shaun into someone else, maybe not so different, but he was not the same person he was when they threw him behind the bars. This commotion of loud voices and shouting kept going and going, but it was obviously just the brutish soldiers arguing like usual.

"This is strange." Shaun stated out of nowhere.

"What d'ya mean?" Brendan replies.

"I've been here eight months, during the battles at Hoover, but I've never heard them argue like this." Shaun told Brendan, clearly confused about what was going on.

 _He was found outside of Camp Golf!_ They both heard from the soldier's voice. They couldn't know who they meant yet.

"You can't be serious, not him." A familiar voice replied, Colonel Hsu.

"Hanlon, he's fucking dead, his body, fucking laid on the ground outside of Camp Golf's entrance sir!" The soldier yelled, clearly shaken and frightened.

Both Shaun and Brendan turned to each other in shock. Everyone in the wasteland, NCR or not knew who Chief Hanlon was, one of the toughest and hardest men in the NCR and the wastes. Dead. Brendan's thoughts automatically, like everyone else's, went straight to the Legion, but he couldn't be sure. Ever since the second battle at Hoover Dam, the Legion had lay dormant, he knew that having not seen them on his tail for a long time. Shaun didn't think of the Brotherhood of Steel, they were small, like remnants in the Mojave, there was no way in hell they would murder Hanlon, there is no way they could even get to him, neither could the Legion.

"How the fuck did this go unseen?!" Hsu shouted furiously at his soldier.

"I'm sorry sir but the word was he was not seen for a day or two, and now this, nobody knows!" The soldier was trembling, you could hear it in his voice.

"Where's Oliver?" Hsu calmed himself and asked.

Brendan and Shaun heard no reply from the soldier for a few moments, but even god heard Hsu next.

"WHERE?!" Hsu yelled, echoing around the entire building.

"Nobody knows…" The soldier whispered, but even the former legionary and brother of steel could hear.

Silence is what followed, nothing but stun silence. Until a large smashing sound echoed through the building, Hsu had broken something, hopefully not his soldier.

"Nobody knows? What the fuck's that mean?" Hsu growled.

"He headed out of Mojave Outpost a week ago, alone. He ordered everyone else not to follow him, and that he needed the alone time to think. Now nobody has seen or heard from him since." The soldier told his Colonel, almost frightened to speak.

"Who told you this?" Hsu demanded an answer.

"Knight, at Mojave Outpost radioed it in after we found out about Hanlon." The soldier replied.

Brendan and Shaun once again listened to silence. Nothing for at least two minutes.

"Our Chief turns up dead, and our General vanishes? That can't be a fucking coincidence." Hsu grunted angrily.

"Sir, we may control most of the Mojave, but that doesn't mean we have no enemies out there. Hanlon was stuck with Legion spears." The soldier revealed.

Brendan's eyebrows almost left his head. _Fucked,_ he thought, _I'm fucked._ Brendan was sure they were gonna think he had something to do with it, and he was right. Without wasting anytime, Hsu was in the cell room, unlocking the cell door.

"You piece of fucking filth!" Hsu yelled in Brendan's face.

"I'm not with them! Fucking hell!" Brendan defended himself.

Hsu picked Brendan up off the ground and began brutally punching his face in.

"Who killed him?!" Hsu was furious.

"I've been out of Crimson armour for over a year!" Brendan shouted, his nose and lip bloody.

"Where the fuck is Oliver?!" Hsu continued without even listening to the former Legionary.

Shaun sat, he wanted to do something to help, but was heavily outnumbered by the other two NCR troops in the room watching. Hsu kneed Brendan in the stomach and finally stopped as Brendan once again hit the floor coughing and squirming in pain.

"You Legionary fucks gotta be wiped off the face of this earth!" Hsu yelled above his lungs.

Brendan crunched his face in anger.

"Funny, coming from the guy who just beat up an innocent. I am not a legionary, I cut ties with them a long time ago and you basically wiped them out yourself at Hoover Dam. Hell even a fucking Courier killed Caesar himself!" Brendan was enraged in pain and would not avert his tongue any longer.

"You want someone to blame for Hanlon dying? And Oliver going missing? Blame your fucking selves, for being assholes to the whole goddamn forsaken wasteland!" Brendan shouted to Hsu who stood over him.

Shaun smiled at Brendan's words, he liked this guy, former Legionary or not. Hsu listened and let out a sigh, kicked the cell bars and punched the already broken up walls.

"Fine, if it's so impossible for us to get anything on this, seeing as we're 'everybody's enemy'" Hsu mimicked Brendan.

Brendan lifted himself up and crawled to put his back against the wall, hands clutching his stomach.

"Then you're gonna find out, you're not NCR right, even though everybody remembers a Legion face." Hsu told Brendan bluntly in anger.

Shaun was shocked, the NCR had just ordered this man to find out what had happened to their Chief and General.

"Fuck you, I'm doing nothing for you." Brendan spat blood on the floor.

"You will, but don't worry, you won't be alone. I have a couple of people in mind. People that don't belong to the NCR and two people who if they died we or nobody else would give a shit." Hsu angrily smiled with his teeth.

Hsu turned to the Brotherhood of Steel member and pointed.

"You've been here for a fucking long time, time to make yourself useful, you're gonna help this man, or else." Hsu ferociously ordered Shaun Morse.

Shaun snarled at Hsu, he wasn't going to refuse, he needed to get out of here, even if it meant working for the faction he despised. Hsu then turned to his soldiers.

"The other guy, find him. The medic." Hsu ordered his men.

"There's a lot of medics out there sir." One soldier replied.

Hsu remembered the man he was talking about, the deserter, the man who ran from his team and left them to die, unbeknownst to him the same man Brendan had saved from death.

"The dishonorable discharge dammnit! _Kirkbride!_ " Hsu demanded.

Brendan's eyes widened, the man he saved, the man who let him go.

"Find his ass wherever it is, getting laid in Gomorrah, getting mauled in Quarry Junction, asleep in a ditch, I don't care, just find him, _Now!_ " Hsu ordered his soldiers.

Hsu stormed out of the room and left his soldiers to relock the cell for now while they contacted every NCR camp in the Mojave to find Connor Kirkbride. The entire thing left Brendan and Shaun in confusion, but in some ways they didn't understand, ready.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 **4:28PM, FRIDAY MAY 9TH, 2282, NOVAC**

Connor gulped another half glass of scotch before he realized his bottle was almost empty. Scotch was his only real friend that helped him now in his life. Connor didn't really see Boone as a friend, more of an acquaintance rather than a friend, probably just because Connor was once NCR, if that wasn't the case, he always wondered if they'd ever get along. Today was one of Connor's days off from part time at the Dino Gift Shop, so it was one of the days he spent drinking, and now he may have ran out of Scotch. Connor had been at Novac in self-imposed exile for a year at this point, losing care and faith in life more and more with each passing day and each empty glass. Citizens of Novac, all except No-Bark, used to ask Connor if his days with the NCR were truly over and they weren't just very angry and punishing him for an amount of time. As much as Connor had now been disgraced by the Republic, and wrote them off the list of the people he trusted, let alone liked, _Nothing, is ever, over_ he would say. Something he would say a lot to people, truly a believe that everything that has happened, or whatever is going to happen will never truly have its end, and everything will always catch up eventually, whether it be days later or decades later. Novac was his home now, and if he was to enjoy living there for maybe until the end of his days, he had to enjoy it. Enjoying it, meant getting drunk. Connor had just realised he was out of scotch, and didn't feel like switching over to beer, he wasn't a fan. Passing Merchants usually turned up every day at both noon and at 5pm, so he didn't have long. Being as tipsy or already drunk as he was, Connor had been ignoring everybody all day, despite both Ranger Andy, Ada and his boss Cliff Briscoe had been trying to call him over or speak to him, only for Connor to shout back excuses for why he couldn't stop to talk or just completely ignore them in general. Ignoring Novac's inhabitants who had made him welcome despite his disgraced reputation was something Connor had started doing often, he'd even attempted to cause trouble not long back a few weeks by almost attacking No-Bark Noonan after the latter continuously said ridiculous things and at one point insulted the NCR's "pussy ass troops". Connor was ready to beat the crazy man down but luckily Manny Vargas had noticed Connor's behavior and posture before he could proceed. Attacking a man unprovoked would have gotten Connor removed from town, so it was lucky Vargas had stepped in when he did. Everyone around town had no doubt began to grow sick and tired of Connor and his drunken antics. The disgraced NCR Medic was no longer the exiled NCR soldier, he was the town drunk who happened to be with the Republic at one point. Searching and rummaging through the Dino Bite Gift Shops stock for more Scotch proved useless as Cliff never really sold alcohol, being that the Dino Gift Shop was for kids naturally, it's most famous item being the small T-Rex toys. Connor felt irritated more than usual today, he had ignored everybody who had tried to speak with him but you could tell it bothered him, who _really_ wanted to speak with him? he would wonder, not even Boone really _spoke_ to him, rather just listen to his drunken stories before taking his night shift duty. The discharged deserter had finally resorted to even asking the town Doctor. He was adamant while following Ada down the street behind the Motel.

"Scotch, that's all I want, even half a bottle." He asked Ada less than calmly.

Ada tried to calm him down, as a Doctor she could see an alcoholic or an almost alcoholic when she saw one.

"Connor I don't sell fucking scotch, or any drink for that matter, I'm a Doctor not a walking barmaid, go ask Cliff." She replied, attempting to talk him out of his needy behavior.

Connor had already looked in Cliff's shop, but he couldn't say, if he had found some he would've stolen it.

"I already have, he doesn't have any either."

Ada then stopped in her steps and turned to him sharply.

"Connor, want a piece of my advice, as a Doctor?" She asked him calmly.

"Not really."

Ada told it as she saw it, honestly.

"When you first arrived here, we knew who you were, but we understood, that's why we accepted you here. But you're killing yourself slowly with these drinking habits. I've seen many a man end up dead in a ditch after boozing and boozing. I don't want to see that happen again, not to a former decorated NCR member."

"Decorated? You must have me confused, I'm the man they threw to the curb for looking out for my own life. Does it ever occur to people in this wasteland that I may just want to kill myself slowly?" Connor asked her, but she knew he was lying.

Ada had had enough of this ridiculous shell of a man.

"If you wanted to kill yourself, you'd have taken your pistol and done it already, nobody wants to die slowly, that's the ultimate reason you're in this position, you ran from the Legions' crucifixions, you didn't want that undignified slow death, so don't bullshit about wanting to die slowly."

Connor didn't reply, his head shook left and ready sharply, he sighed and his eyes moved to the ground below him.

Ada didn't mean any harm or offence in her words, she was doing her own duty as a Doctor, and she wasn't going to see a clearly good hearted man who was lost die from his own delusions and self-pity.

"You know people have been trying to speak to you all day right?"

"Yeah, I figured I'd done something wrong, what is it they want?"

"NCR contacted us on the radio, troops are out in the Mojave looking for you."

Connor's eyes looked at her, looked to his left and then his right, very quick. _NCR? Looking for me?_ He thought to himself. Wrong, it was all wrong to Connor, it had been a year without any NCR contact and now they were apparently looking for him, for whatever reason.

"Did you all tell them I was here?" Connor asked her in a small panic.

Neither Ada nor any other Novac citizen had told them anything.

"No we didn't, you've caused no real trouble here, so we wouldn't snitch you up. But. They're searching every town in the Mojave for you, they didn't say why at all, but they'll be here since they set off early this morning." Ada told him.

Connor was both frightened and confused. _Why?_ He kept saying to himself, it was the new most common word in his head replacing _Scotch._ Connor had never heard anything from Colonel Hsu in a year and had never even attempted to contact them or they would throw him in a cell and shoot the key into Quarry Junction. The discharged medic then started power walking away from Ada on his way to see Ranger Andy. Boone had saw Connor coming as he stormed his way through the Motel gates and didn't even try to stop him, seeing how focused his mind was on something else. Boone didn't even know about the NCR radio call, he didn't really care about anything while working in Novac. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Connor hammered his right fist on Andy's room door. Crippled and slow the Ranger answered the door after a minute or two of wait.

"Kirkbride? 'Bout damn time."

"Can I come in?" Connor demanded more than asked.

Andy politely opened the door to the former NCR medic and in he stormed while Andy closed the door after him.

"Why does the NCR want to find me?" Connor asked, panicked.

"They didn't say." Andy replied.

"Bullshit, there is always a motive, always a reason with the NCR!"

"I know that as much as you Connor, but they didn't give us a reason, they just told us that troops would be arriving late in the evening to search the town for you, but you were too drunk to listen."

Connor sighed and tried to relax himself. "Dammit, anything else strange happened recently? Anything at all that makes some sense of this?"

Andy shook his head after crossing his arms.

"Nope, and I keep in contact with the NCR outposts, especially Charlie Outpost just outside town. I've worked with those men but they let me go after I got crippled. I don't hold it against them but it means I won't give someone up to them, just because I was a ranger doesn't mean I'm their errand boy."

Connor looked from the ground up to Andy again, he knew the former Ranger well after living in Novac a year and deep down did trust him. Andy saw the confliction in the former Medic's eyes. Andy and Connor had grown to like one another, Connor had taken some lessons in hand to hand combat from Andy in exchange for Connor's pretty helpful medical care and knowledge to keep himself well.

"What I'm getting at is, I know the NCR pretty well, probably better than you, and if they're looking for someone, it's for good reason. Punishment is not something they'll be coming after you for, they'd have done that the day they discharged you, this could be anything."

Connor felt reassured, but this didn't take away is gut feelings.

"Thanks Andy." Connor said.

Kirkbride turned to leave and walked to the door, but after he turned the door knob he turned back to Andy, who was climbing onto his bed.

"By the way."

Andy stopped and looked.

"Yeah?"

"You got any scotch?"

"Sure, not a full bottle but I'm not so much of a drink nowadays, over there in my draw." Andy pointed.

Connor walked over and took the half full bottle of scotch from the ex-Ranger and then finally left.

Hours went by and Connor did nothing different to his activities over the past year, sit, think and drink. Boone was on his night shift, so Connor was especially alone tonight. Strangely, he felt a more intense loneliness tonight than he had for a long, long time. People around Novac were either in their houses sleeping, doing their night shifts or simply choosing not to keep him company, probably due to the NCR search for him, they most likely figured he was in trouble as much as he thought himself. Connor felt suddenly like Novac was against him, like the entire Mojave was against him, more so than it had been since his cowardly acts at Camp Golf. Slowly but eagerly he poured and poured scotch in his glass, only filling a quarter of the glass but it was enough for him, and always drank them straight off, despite needing to savour it. Spinning and spinning, his mind was in all directions, thinking about everything that had brought him to this moment right now. NCR, Mojave, Hoover Dam, Camp Golf, Sawyer and his former superiors. Connor was adamant, if the NCR were coming for him, and he had accepted within hours that they _would_ find him and he would _not_ run from them, he was tying one on for when they arrived. For another hour Connor sat in Ada's tent, staring out at the dark night sky, listening to the wind blow, the distant gunshots, the sounds of people in New Vegas that you could hear from anywhere. Whilst he was sitting alone, he was suddenly joined by the owner of that tent, Dr. Straus.

"Still drinking?" She asked.

Connor finally realized she had walked in after staring in a trance out at the sky.

"Until I get to the bottom of this bottle and I'm back to square one."

Connor continued to stare at the sky and the wasteland out in the distance. Ada looked in the direction he was, realizing he was quit drunk.

"What're you looking at?"

"Nothing, the air, that poisoned air we breathe." Connor replied.

Ada's eyebrows lowered, she then sat next to him.

"Poisoned? There's no radiation in this town, or even the area, not heavily."

"That's not what I meant."

Connor was gaunt but you could see beyond his drunken eyes he was still able to rationally think.

"You ever wonder if this is just all a dream? That this life you live, in this fucking place, town at the end of the world, is just not real, and at one point you might wake up? I used to hope that was true, but then the hard truth of life is that those times where you think everything is good, and you're sliding down that great path, thinking that things are gonna work out and always will, you come to realize _that_ is the dream, and this misery is reality."

Ada sighed before shaking her head a little.

"I don't wonder that shit Connor, I wonder if you've had enough for tonight."

Ada reached for the bottle of scotch, probably only one glass worth left in it, but before she could lift it from the table she felt a tight grip on her hand. Connor had his hand wrapped around hers, making sure the scotch went nowhere. She looked at him and he shot her a drunk but deadly look.

"Just let me enjoy my last night of free misery please Ada. Before the NCR take me to their darkest pitt and throw me in there."

"You don't know that for sure do you? You're just drunk."

"Best way to be, this way I might not put up a fight when they arrive here."

"Why don't you go back to your room, get some sleep and let me find out what they want with you before they check the motel?"

Connor's eyebrows raised, sounded like a good idea, but what was she wanting in return?

"For what?"

Ada sighed again, this man was typical.

"Nothing, I don't want anything in return, you've been good to everyone here and I'd like to help, especially a fellow Medical specialist." Ada told the drunk Medic.

Connor looked at her and then back to his scotch, poured one last glass, drank it off in one and then stood up from the stool, with help from Straus in case he was to fall flat on his face but Connor was a lot stronger than he looked and managed to stand fine and walk from the tent towards the motel. Ada stayed on the entrance of town awaiting the coming NCR squad. Connor got to his room and slammed the door shut behind him. His room was the typical Novac motel room, normal bed, desk, computer which didn't work and a bathroom. Connor could sense something coming, something more than the NCR and felt that he had better prepare, as drunk as he was, very but still functional. He grabbed and opened up a suitcase underneath his bed. Inside this briefcase was a few things he'd kept in his possession incase his old work came back on him, which it seemed like it was. About five Stimpaks, an NCR-ish Merc grunt outfit, small bulletproof vest to go underneath, a pair of brass knuckles and a 9mm pistol with seven full clips. He didn't want to take the briefcase so instead put on the Merc Grunt outfit and the bulletproof vest, holstered his pistol and its magazines except for the one he loaded the gun with and stashed the Stimpaks in any pocket he had. Without any real idea the NCR had already arrived, Connor was sitting on his room chair, head in his hands, his mind eating him alive. Outside at the entrance of town, the NCR squad had already arrived and told Ada just about as much as they would tell anyone about their affairs. Connor sat thinking again, was this it, was he going to be punished, in any way, shape or form? Because if he was it could be his last night in this harsh reality they called the Wasteland, because he couldn't go down without a fight if that's what they were looking for. He wished he had some more scotch, for one last drink before shit went down. Connor was sitting, pulled out his pistol from the holster, looked at it closely, this was the same one the legionary named Sawyer had saved him with, he was sure that this was ultimately going to kill him this time. He flipped off the safety and then. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ The former medic shot out of his seat, causing it to fall over and pointed the pistol at his door while approaching it slowly. From drunk to sober, this situation had pissed the scotch out of Connor's system.

"Yes?" Connor asked whoever was on the other side of the door.

A muffled voice replied to him.

"It's me, Ada. Open up."

Connor was former NCR, he knew this could be a trick, she may not have given him up, but the Republic could have forced her into this. Nervous and riddled with tension he slowly turned the door knob and slightly opened the door enough to see out, all he saw was Ada.

"They're here."

"I guessed that, what the fuck do they want?"

"They won't give me any details."

"They want me dead, I must be some sort of loose end, you should get clear before you get hurt." He talked so fast he was barely understandable.

She was angered by his irrational behavior.

"No, you've got it wrong. Put the fucking gun away you moron."

He moved his face closer to hers to whisper.

"Why the hell would I do that? Surrendering isn't my style."

She finally got the chance to tell him.

"They didn't give me details, but they said they need your help."

Connor's face fell, his head slowly went back from hers and his brow twisted in confusion. Why did they want his help? What on earth could they really need his help for? He'd had enough of asking questions especially to himself. Connor closed the door quickly to holster his weapon and slap himself out of his nervous posture. Back outside he went, it was late at night, maybe even midnight but he didn't care, not at all. All he cared about was hearing the squad out.

"They're waiting by the tent" Ada told him.

He turned back to the Doctor that had stayed by his side.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He turned back whilst walking away.

"Anything I did wrong."

Ada watched as he walked away, towards the squad. Connor saw the small band of troops, just three of them, one he recognized very well from his past time with them. He approached them slowly, they carried service rifles, except for the one he recognized, they had an assault carbine on their back. As much as he had changed a lot since he was thrown out of McCarran they still recognized him as much as he did them, especially the familiar troop.

"You still walk the same!" She shouted.

This was Lieutenant Carrie Boyd.

"Walks never change." He replied to her.

He finally stopped right in front of her and her two fellow troops.

Boyd looked Connor up and down.

"How've you been?"

Connor smirked and chuckled to himself, astonished at the question.

"How've I been? You mean after I was forced to leave McCarran, had my bags packed for me and thrown out onto the pavement outside the terminal building and you all left me to fend for myself?" Connor asked her with attitude.

Boyd sighed and looked away.

"Look, we're here because we need your help. We wouldn't bother you otherwise." She told him straight.

"No why would you? Because I'm clearly having a blast here in Novac, drinking myself closer to death every night. What did you all do huh? Alienate every other ally in the Mojave and finally come back to me in the fucking rotation?" He asked her.

She recognized him this way, full of anger, and attitude, it was tiring.

"No, we need your help specifically because you're not with us anymore. You and two other people back at McCarran are wanted for this objective."

"Oh yeah? What objective is that Carrie?" He finally asked.

"We need you to find exactly who committed a certain crime and who was involved, and find where General Lee Oliver is."

Connor was confused, that was a ridiculous request, in fact so stupid it sounded like a joke, but they wouldn't come all this way for a joke.

"Oliver? What is he supposed to be fucking missing?"

"Precisely, he hasn't been seen in over a week, and its coincidence that this has happened after the crime happened."

Boyd seemed to be trying to avoid telling Connor something, he saw that, he knew this girl well, as she did him.

"Will you spit it the fuck out already? What crime?"

She gave in.

"Hanlon is dead."

Connor froze, his face in clear shock. Hanlon was man that had been good to him during his time, despite not taking his side during the discharge.

"…Dead? No not Hanlon." He said in denial.

"His body was found outside Camp Golf, posed with Legion spears in his body, but we don't know for sure if it was Legion." Ada revealed to him.

Connor turned away and paced back and forth.

"God almighty, fuck me. What the hell do you expect me to do?" He asked.

"Hsu want's you, a legionary and a member from the Brotherhood of Steel to get to the bottom of this, or…"

Connor approached her, even closer than before.

"Or what?!" He tried to pull the truth out of her.

"Or you all face execution…"

Connor was stunned again, what a night, but he expected this, he understood, he was expendable, like the other two people they wanted.

"Execution huh?"

Boyd looked away from him.

"I'm sorry, Hsu's furious at everyone right now, it wasn't my call."

He smirked again and shook his head.

"Nice bit of human compassion I guess."

"We have to take you to McCarran, Connor. I'm sorry, you can come with us or we'll have to drag you." Boyd told him, she clearly wasn't a fan of what she was ordered.

Connor sighed and crossed his arms.

"Fine. I'll follow your lead. Not like I have anything else to do with my life anymore."

She looked at him and laughed through her nose, neither could believe how both had ended up.

"Who are these two guys I'm supposed to be working with?" he asked.

"The guy from the Brotherhood is named 'Morse' and the Legionary who claims he isn't any more goes by the name 'Sawyer'." She revealed.

Connor's breathe was taken from him, the man who saved his life? That was it, whether to help the NCR or die because of them, he was in debt to this man, and had to go.

"Sawyer?"

He paused in disbelief.

"Fine, okay Carrie, lead the way." He agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

 **06:03PM, SUNDAY MAY 11TH, 2282, CAMP MCCARRAN**

Large, very large. Camp McCarran's gates looked larger to Connor than he remembered the day he looked back on them as he walked away. It had been almost three days since Connor set off to his old base of operations with the NCR with Lieutenant Boyd from Novac. Walking across the Mojave hadn't been exactly enjoyable, with the other two NCR troopers constantly being snide in their sentence's towards the disgraced Medic. Connor had grit his teeth and kept walking on, eager to see what exactly the NCR needed him for, and to once again speak to the man who had saved his life a year before. Whilst he was lead across the McCarran airstrip, passed tents and other NCR troopers who could easily recognize him, as he could with some of them. Uncomfortable wasn't the word to describe the former medic's feelings at this moment. Sweat was running down the side of his face, could've been the sweltering heat, but as he was wearing a Merc Grunt clothes, it was a combination of the heat and his nerves. Connor was searched from top to bottom when he arrived at the main McCarran HQ building.

"Spread your arms and legs please." Said the guard.

Connor did as he was told and ended up looking like a child mimicking a star in the sky when spreading out his limbs for a search. The guard checked his arms first, down his sides, back and chest, and then the legs, coming a little too close to the gentlemen's region. Connor's handy 9mm pistol was removed from his person, luckily however, they couldn't find his brass knuckles which Connor had become very good at hiding. Now the guard was finished.

"Clear."

Boyd then stepped to Connor's side.

"Come on, Hsu's waiting." She told him.

Connor was a combination of nervous, angry, confused and scared, a combination not good for him having spent a year doing nothing but boozing. Search over now, Connor was told to put his hands and wrists together. Before he knew it, he was handcuffed.

"This necessary?" Connor asked.

The guard exchanged him a pitiful look.

"Yeah, it is."

Connor was lead down the large hallway of the building towards the pathetic excuse for an office that was Hsu's office. In he walked and there was Colonel Hsu waiting for him, at his desk. Connor was left standing there, handcuffed and nervous when Boyd left the room and shut the door. Kirkbride was now staring into the eyes of the man who ordered him to be thrown out of the gates a year before, his old boss. Hsu was looking back at him glaringly. Connor had already noticed the bottle of scotch on his desk and wanted it straight away as it was the first full bottle he had seen in months.

"How've you been?" Connor was asked.

Connor rolled his eyes around the room.

"I'm a little sick of being asked that question at this point. Take a good look at me, do I look good?" Connor replied.

Hsu gave Connor a look from top to bottom for a few seconds.

"No, you don't. In fact I may say you don't look particularly healthy at all." Hsu told him.

Connor took a seat across from Hsu slowly, and awkwardly due to his handcuffs.

"I didn't say sit." Hsu said bluntly.

"Yeah well, I've been walking for a day in the boiling hot sun and the shitty fucking Mojave, and let's not forget, apparently you want my help, so a seat for my ass is an entitlement." Connor replied to the Colonel.

Hsu didn't reply, smirked and gently nodded his head. Connor then awkwardly reached out for the bottle of scotch, only for Hsu to instantly take it from the desk and put it back in his draw.

"No more drinking Connor. I've heard about this habit of yours that's got out of hand. If you're gonna help us, you can't do it drunk." The colonel was acting like a parent to Connor, which annoyed him.

Connor leaned back into his chair, shook his head and sighed.

"Fair enough, I am pretty pissed right now and I'd like to stay pissed, and scotch would only take the edge off." Connor replied.

"You see that? You're talking like an alcoholic on his day off the bottle. You know the seriousness of this situation right? Hanlon turns up dead outside Golf and General Oliver turns out to be missing. That's two serious fucking blows to the NCR." Hsu told Connor.

"That is bad and all, but I'd like to know just exactly why you're putting me on this 'mission' and threatening me with execution if I refuse."

"It's simple. You're expendable, but good. You were on my squad four years Connor, and I saw how skilled you can be in both combat and the medical room. But there's no escaping what you did to your own Squad that day at Camp Golf."

"It was a terrible fucking situation that anybody in the same position would be just as conflicted as to what to do. Die, be strung up on a cross and be _left_ to die, or simply run with your life."

"Meaning run with your dick between your legs."

"Fuck you Hsu, what exactly is it you do here? Sit at your desk, beating off your computer, shouting and ordering cunts around? Drinking scotch?" Connor was starting to cross a line.

Hsu was still slightly smiling and listening.

"You're in over your head if you think I can solve this fucking thing. Along with two, what? Misfits in your cells?"

"Not misfits, infact I'd say the three of you have a lot more in common than you'd think." Hsu replied.

"And what is that exactly?"

"Nobody gives a shit about any of you, and that makes you all perfect for this task, Connor." Hsu told him.

Connor grit his teeth at the sound of his former Colonel briefing him by his first name and twitched his right away. Hsu stood up slowly from his chair while grabbing his scotch and a small but slightly dusty glass.

"I see it like this. Neither you nor the other two guys have anything to really live for. No purpose than to, drink from morning till night, wander the wastes, or sit in a cell alone. But I'm giving you all a purpose here, a chance to fucking prove yourselves."

Connor's eyebrows lowered and his eyes looked left and right sharply. He was stunned.

"You sound like you're expecting gratitude from us. I'm not thanking you for giving me no decision whatsoever. It's either do what you say or see how long I can dodge bullets up against the wall. Sorry Hsu, but that doesn't sound like a nice ordeal you're putting me in."

Hsu shrugged his shoulders while pouring a glass of scotch.

"I know how smart you can be, atleast when you're not on the bottle. And I know those two guys in the cell are just as tough as you, if not more. One of them is from the Brotherhood for fuck sake."

Hsu starting sipping his drink and then sat back down across from the handcuffed medic.

"You find out who killed Hanlon, and where the fuck Oliver is, because with Hanlon dead and Oliver missing, the NCR will slowly crumble." The Colonel said.

Connor was quick to reply.

"You ever think that the NCR is its own worst enemy?" The medic asked.

Hsu took a good long moment to take in Connor's words, and sighed followed by a sip of the scotch.

"I'm starting to hope more that you refuse my offer, so I can shoot you myself."

Connor smirked with his teeth.

"That's the NCR colonel I can see behind that bullshit front. You want us to figure this shit out? Then I'll give a condition."

Hsu listened, supped away and was now listening.

"And what might that be?" Hsu asked.

Connor leaned against the desk, handcuffed wrists on the table.

"The NCR backs off. You let the three of us do this ourselves, _our way._ That's the deal." Connor told the Colonel bluntly.

Hsu once again took a sip during a moment of silence.

"You're way? but there's nothing stopping you all from fucking off out of the Mojave. So you can do it all your way, but you keep me informed of what you got and a Ranger will be watching you guys at all times. You won't ever see him, but he'll always be there."

"Fuck no. No rangers. You want us to do this, you trust us." Connor demanded.

"Trust a legionary and a Brother of steel?" Hsu scowled.

"Trust us. It's not like if you lose us you can't send every trooper to fucking find us."

Hsu glared at Connor, now gulping at his scotch.

"You take an NCR radio with you. You all report to us whenever you have something on this bullshit and whenever you need help. We're the NCR you see, we're nice guys like that."

Connor chuckled under his breath.

"Nice guys? Hsu, in this wasteland, there's no such thing." The former medic replied.

Hsu finished his scotch and shouted for one of his troopers to get back in the room. Moments later Connor was being guided out of the room by two soldiers. He was confused by this, he felt like a super mutant in chains. He wasn't a necessarily dangerous man and definitely not inside of Camp McCarran. Yet they dragged him everywhere.

Meanwhile, in the McCarran terminal building cells. Brendan and Shaun were still in their cell. Morse was still sitting down, one leg bent and one leg stretched out. Sawyer standing with his forehead resting on a bar.

Both the ex-legionary and the Steel brother heard the door to the room suddenly open and creek.

"About time, I'm gagging to get back out there into the fucking wastesla-" Brendan suddenly stopped.

Shaun lifted his head to the door and both men were faced by Connor Kirkbride, the man they had been waiting almost two days for. Brendan knew instantly who he was, he looked almost no different, not counting the rough facial hair he had around his mouth and strongly on his chin. Shaun didn't know this man, but had heard about him for almost 48 hours after everybody in McCarran was waiting on him to arrive. Connor was the same looking at the two men he was now being forced into a mission with. He knew exactly who Sawyer was, but had only just laid eyes on the Brotherhood member. Connor thought to himself during the small period of silence that the two men looked almost identical to himself when he looked in a mirror. They had that look. The look of a soul that was somewhere it didn't know, lost in the midst of something dark and misty. He saw two people just like himself, and that alone made him accept them both as his 'partners', being the most appropriate word for them both.

"You…" Sawyer grunted.

Connor nodded.

"Yeah, me. You don't exactly look like you're doing alright." He replied to the ex-crimson.

Brendan sighed.

"Well, time has its way with us all."

Shaun's voice could then be heard from the corner of the cell.

"From looking at the three of us, I'd say we all pissed time right off."

The Brother of Steel lifted himself off the ground to his feet. It was astonishing that he seemed still in a good frame of mind after almost 9 months of total isolation from the rest of the scorched world. However, he remained very fractured in the mind after the alone time, but maybe not too bad.

"You must be Morse." Connor said.

"Names Connor. Kirkbride." The former medic held out his hand for a handshake.

Shaun looked at his hand for a few moments but did not shake it. Despite Connor being dishonorably discharged and disgraced by the NCR, Shaun still didn't quite trust nor like him, simply because he was once NCR. Connor was good at reading people, especially when sober, and he understood Morse's decision.

"That's okay. So you two know what we're doing?" The still handcuffed medic asked.

"Finding some NCR fucker?" Brendan asked.

"Apparently Hanlon's dead, and his body is still at Camp Golf. On top of that, General Oliver had disappeared. He was last seen at Mojave Outpost supposedly. We need to find out who killed Hanlon and where Oliver is, and find out if both have some connection. Or the three of us can face the firing squad." Connor briefed his two new acquaintances.

Both Sawyer and Morse just listened. Despite Sawyer being the man who saved Connor's life and Connor being the man responsible for Sawyer being a free man for another year, they still didn't seemed to have a large amount of trust, but that was as common in the wasteland as a feral ghoul. Both had respect for each other however, and both had the upmost respect for Morse.

"Sounds like the NCR getting us to do their dirty work. Or atleast getting us to look into their own dirty doings." Morse grunted.

Connor again understood the Steel Brother's words.

"I agree with you. But we ain't got a choice. This is their offer for us to have some sort of purpose and no offence to either of you, but neither of you two seem to have any purpose apart from breathing in the air just like myself. At least from looking at ourselves."

Sawyer and Morse just looked at him.

"Look I know I was NCR, and I know it seems like I'm with them again, having me outside of this cell talking to you you both in there. But believe me, I am on your sides. I am more against the NCR now than any legionary could ever have been." Connor explained.

Sawyer now let his mouth go.

"I know, but trust his hard to come by these days. I'm here because a town first saved my life from geckos only to throw me to the Republic. 'the fucks that about huh?"

Connor shook his head.

"Look we don't know eachother, not at all. But we're in this now or we die. And even though death doesn't seem like a bad alternative for any of us, I'd like to know exactly what the fuck is going on behind things. Wouldn't you?" The medic asked.

After a moments of silence, Shaun nodded.

"I guess I would. Now can we get the fuck outer here?" He asked.

Troopers outside of the room then entered and unlocked the cell door.

"You all have thirty minutes to gather your things, take what ammo and weapons you need, after that half hour, you're out of the gates." The trooper told them, stern.

The three partners were about to leave the cells and head to the armory but then Connor was stopped by Boyd who had suddenly reappeared.

"Here, take it." Boyd said handing him an NCR radio.

Connor took it in his hands and looked at her as she shrugged.

"Orders, just in case you need us."

Connor said nothing and kept walking. The three of them walked side by side eachother, one ex-legionary in ragged armor, a former NCR medic in dirty merc grunt clothes, and a Brotherhood of Steel member in the basic clothes they would wear underneath their power armors. Connor was relieved of his handcuffs as he entered the armor, it was a good feeling to twist his wrists after a good few hours cuffed. Sawyer was almost disgusted by the armory they were given a choice from.

"This is fucking it?" He asked.

"That's all you fucking deserve." The trooper replied.

Brendan shook his head in anger.

"Republic fuckers." He was angry, until he saw a weapon that was for him in the corner, leaning against the wall. It was a machete, not perfectly sharpened, but Brendan could take care of that with just a rock. Sawyer picked it up and cracked it against the wall, taking off some rubble. Holster there too, he picked it up and sheaved his blade and hung it over his back, Following this Sawyer took a Caravana Shotgun, with a couple of ammo boxes. Meanwhile Morse took a hunting knife, which he had learned many uses for, and a 10mm pistol with a good amount of bullets to stash on his person. Connor however stuck with what he had arrived with as nothing else in the armory suited him nor did they match up to his skills. He kept his 9mm pistol as he was very skilled with pistols, but he couldn't find a semi-automatic rifle which was the other weapon he was very efficient with. He also had his brass knuckles on him that still nobody realized he was carrying. They all loaded their weapons and holstered them on themselves. Afterwards Sawyer and Kirkbride dressed themselves in better armor except Morse whose armor was already good quality. Connor was now wearing what looked like leather armor, expect the shoulder plate was gone, but the bullet proof vest he brought from Novac was still on him. Brendan didn't care much and still looked like a member of the Legion, Roman armor looking and all but you could still tell he wasn't a real Legionary. Afterwards they were greeted by Hsu.

"I'll just keep this short and sweet. You're all in this shit now that you've agreed. You try to leave the Mojave, you try to fuck this up or keep anything from us, and it'll end badly for you. All I ask is for you to all do this right." The colonel told them.

"We do this our way, that's the deal Hsu, less you forget that. If we have something major, you'll be the first to know. I swear to god." Connor said whilst holding up his hand as if swearing oath. One would wonder if Hsu knew he was being mocked.

"Be careful out there then, boys." Hsu told them.

The three men started leaving the room and all of them looked at Hsu as they left.

Sawyer had something to as always.

"I really hope you and I see eachother again." He told Hsu as he walked away.

Morse was next.

"You're in this shit too. Don't pretend the NCR isn't." Morse growled.

Connor said nothing as he had said everything he could possibly say.

The three men were lead to the gates and watched the large wooden freakish things slowly open to them. When opened, they were ordered out.

"Move! Sort this shit out!" A trooper ordered.

The three of them shot him a look, not moving, prompting him to aim his service rifle at them.

"I said MOVE!" He yelled.

The three of them continued on, leaving McCarran. They then looked back to watch the large gates close and slam behind them. Afterwards, they heard and felt an eerie silence, like the entire wasteland gave them a moment to collect themselves. It was dark as a cave, but the inland fires and New Vegas' lights always helped, plus Sawyer knew his way through the wastes like a walking map.

"Golf first, we need to see Halon's body, if the Legion really did kill him, I'll know." Sawyer told the others.

"Yeah, Golf it is. Be a nice trip down memory line for me." Connor replied.

Before they started moving however, Morse stepped in front of Connor.

"What gives?" the medic asked.

"You give. Hand me that NCR radio would you?" Morse asked calmly.

Connor wasn't so sure but they all had to learn to trust eachother now.

"What for?" Connor asked.

"It didn't look too good, I wanna see if its condition is up to par for it to work." Morse replied.

It was no secret Brothers of Steel knew their way of tinkering with electronics.

Connor nodded and handed over the NCR radio to Morse who then took it. Looked at it closely.

"Is it okay?" Sawyer asked.

Without any hesitation, Morse then launched the Radio to the ground, shattering it.

Sawyer and Kirkbride were left confused and slightly angry.

"What the fuck?" Connor said, trying not to shout now that they were out in the wastes but still just outside of McCarran.

"We don't need those fuckers. You said yourself Connor, we do this _our_ way, not theirs, and we don't need 'em". Morse told them both.

After a few moments of silence, it was clear all three were thinking the same and Sawyer and Kirkbride agreed with Morse's actions. Having the NCR as far as possible from them during this mission would benefit them, even if the entire mission was _for_ the NCR. Brendan turned his head to Connor, who looked straight at him. Connor then turned to Shaun who was glaring at them both but not in an offensive way. They all could clearly see from eachothers face and eyes, they were all on the same page. They all gave eachother a nod of agreement and turned South East, and walked side by side through the dusty roads towards Camp Golf.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

 **01:44PM, TUESDAY MAY 13TH, 2282, CAMP GOLF**

As if he had fallen from the roof of the Lucky 38 casino. That's how Chief Hanlon's body looked as it lay on the ground just outside of Camp Golf. Hanlon's body was face down, limbs spread out and bent in different directions, and most importantly, two legionary spears stuck in his back. It was the obvious first impression that the Legion was responsible for this killing, but Brendan was very suspicious when he first saw the body. It had been a long journey for Connor, Brendan and Shaun since they started walking from McCarran, they had already fought off a group of geckos and cut up three Giant Mantis'. It hadn't been a very hard journey, other than the sweltering heat and the almost awkwardness between the three, having not known eachother that well. Connor and Brendan had exchanged the odd word, but as usual, Shaun had said next to nothing. They were not welcomed at first at the camp. Connor was hated for his actions here a year before, Brendan looked like a legionary, and Shaun was clearly a Brother of Steel, but once Connor got two guards to Radio McCarran, they were informed and allowed in immediately and taken to Hanlon's body. Brendan crouched over the body and started taken a detailed look first while Connor and Shaun watched.

"These definitely are Legion spears" Sawyer said while touching one of the spears.

Connor was keen to know exactly who had killed Hanlon, who had been a good friend to him for years until his discharge.

"But was it the Legion?" He asked Brendan.

Brendan didn't reply, and just kept inspecting. Soon, Brendan equipped his knife and began cutting at the back of Hanlon's clothes, through the waistcoat, and then the shirt.

"What're you doing?" Shaun asked.

"Answering Connor's question, it's as simple as this, to find out the answer." Brendan replied.

He tore open the back of Hanlon's clothes, revealing his dry and flaky back. More importantly however, he inspected the wounds where the spears had entered his back. Almost instantly, Brendan knew.

"This wasn't Legion." He revealed.

Connor's eyebrows lowered, and Shaun turned back quickly, having started observing the area.

"Not Legion? How can you tell?" Connor asked.

Brendan stood up straight.

"Because these spears were thrust into his back up close, the Legion use spears from a distance only."

"Maybe this was a close encounter?"

"If it was a close encounter, the Legion wouldn't use the spears, they'd use their machetes or guns."

Connor's face went into his right hand and he took a long breath. Brendan saw his stress.

"You didn't really expect the answer to be so simple did you?" Brendan asked the former Medic.

"No I guess I didn't, but deep down I was hoping it would be." Kirkbride replied.

Shaun then walked closer over to the body, as Connor and Brendan watched. The Brother of Steel got to his knees to look at the body. "There's something odd." Shaun announced.

Both other's then took notice.

"What?" Brendan asked.

"I can see by the condition of his skin, and the smell that this body has been dead for about four days, since he was found last Friday. But the blood doesn't add up to that."

Connor and Brendan continued to listen.

"The blood around the spear wounds is dry, but it's been quickly dried with the heat in this place. Meaning the blood is fresher than the body." Shaun said.

"So what you're saying is." Brendan started.

"He was already dead before the spears were stuck in him?" Connor finished.

"Exactly. Now, one of you help me get the spears out." Shaun said.

Connor then knelt over Hanlon and held him down by the shoulders as Brendan and Shaun removed the spears from the large black and red flesh holes they had created around his spine. Flesh tore and bones crackled as they pulled out both spears with a sharp sound for each as they left the wounds. Connor held his hand over his mouth and took steady breaths after watching. Brendan had now turned his back to the body to take a deep breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Shaun then held his hand out to the former legionary.

"Knife."

Brendan handed over his hunting knife to the Brother of Steel. Seeing something the others had not, Shaun began cutting the rest of Hanlon's clothes off. Connor had now noticed what Shaun had already saw.

"Wait a minute, what are those spots of blood?" Connor had pointed out.

Hanlon's back, apart from the two large wounds from the legion spears had three similar but much smaller wounds scattered around his back. Brendan now turned to see.

"Bullet holes." Shaun said.

Connor got closer again to the body and got down to his knees to get a closer look. Being a former member of the NCR, Connor had a good knowledge of what bullet wounds looked like and could make very good and quick assumptions on what kind of bullets and weapons could have caused them.

"These are exit wounds, not entry. Look a little like 5.56mm rounds. Pretty common, it'd be difficult to tell what gun could've been fired."

Brendan had then stepped closer.

"So the bullets are what actually killed him. The spears were a fucking plant on the Legion." Said Brendan.

"I know you were once a legionary, but because he was shot beforehand doesn't rule the legion out completely." Connor then replied.

Brendan accepted that Connor was right, he knew that the Legion was capable of anything, he had now been on both sides of a Legion attack. Still, despite that, Brendan wouldn't believe it.

"I know, but if the bullets are what killed him, what would the spears be for? Other than to frame the Legion?" Brendan asked.

"Why would any cunt want Hanlon dead to begin with? If it was anyone _but_ the Legion?" Kirkbride replied.

"Well in case it escapes your notice, the NCR aren't exactly everybody's favourite bunch either." Said the former legionary.

"No shit, but they're far from the level of the sheep of Caesar!" Connor then shouted.

The two men began arguing and gathering the intention of most in the close vicinity. Brendan wasn't going to take it. He may have left the Legion but he would never forget them as the people who gave him a home and an upbringing.

"The NCR are on the same level entirely, they just live among us all in a pretty good disguise!" Brendan replied.

Shaun was busy trying to inspect Hanlon's body for any other clues but he was starting to get very distracted by the two men, and after eight months in isolation, he found himself getting extremely angered by the company. Finally, the usually silent Brother of Steel stood up.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled.

Kirkbride turned.

"What? You got something to say?!" Connor asked.

"Yeah! Shut the fuck up. NCR, Legion, Brotherhood, Enclave it doesn't matter! Guilt or innocence, since when has either of those defined a faction in this goddamn world huh?" The Steel Brother asked.

The ex NCR medic and former Legionary could only listen, both intrigued by Shaun's words and stunned that this was the longest sentence they'd ever heard him speak.

"Since when has guilt or innocence ever made a difference to the citizens?"

He lowered his voice and turned his eyes to Connor.

"You fought with this man, under his command. I get it. You want justice."

He turned to Brendan.

"You want to make sure people know the Legion wasn't a part of this."

They both listened silently. Roles switched.

"You both want justice against the guilty. But you forget the one thing. This is the wasteland. Everybody wants justice…"

He paused and then slowly spoke a hard truth to his two partners, himself and anyone else listening.

"But everybody's guilty…"

Time went by the rest of this day, another day in the Mojave. Hot and humid. Connor felt very unwelcome. This was the place he abandoned his squad back a year. He took an hour out of his time, leaving Shaun and Brendan to sit in a tent while he visited the graves of every NCR member who had died there. Graves only buried nearby, surrounded by stones and shown by the wooden crosses above. He had nothing to say, not even an apology but he did find tears to drop. It was hard for him to believe and accept that one fateful choice he made at this camp a year before had cost him a life he did deep down love. Serving with the Republic was something he enjoyed and always felt like he was doing good to the wastes, and he had to leave that life behind, because of a simple yet gravely choice he was forced into. He crouched in front of the graves alone, stared at each cross for a few moments. Whilst he stared he picked up a handful of sand and dust with his right hand. He let out a long deep breathe from his nose and stood back up. Connor then slowly, taking his time, sprinkled the sand and dust on each individual grave. One last look, and he walked away. All three men sat around a bench inside an NCR tent, in deep thought, not a word being spoken. Bewildered wasn't the word, they had nothing to go on other than the revelation that Hanlon was not killed by the spears he was impaled with and that they were staged later. They had taken a good last inspection of Hanlon before talking to an NCR Ranger at Camp Golf about what to do with his corpse.

"We wanted to cremate him, out of respect for being our Chief for so many years." The Ranger suggested to Connor.

This Ranger knew Connor was the former medic who deserted, but Hanlon loved all members, honored or dishonored, so he would accept Connor's opinion this one time.

"Yeah, cremation. He deserved better than this, and we can honour him by not burying him the ground he was posed out on." Connor agreed.

As the three men set around the bench, they had a lot to absorb after the day they had had.

"All we have is that he was shot and killed, before he was impaled. By what seem like 5.56mm rounds. What weapons do we know use those rounds?" Brendan asked.

"Varmant rifles, but they're not powerful enough to pass through the chest and back. This has to be something stronger." Connor replied.

"Assault carbines?" Shaun suggested.

"No that's 5mm." Connor replied.

The three took a long moment to think. All three began looking around them, at Golf, at Lake Las Vegas, at the NCR troopers. Then, almost in sync, Brendan and Connor had come to the same quick assumption. They looked at one another in realisation.

"You thinking the same?" Connor asked.

"I think I am." Brendan replied.

"Service Rifles. They use 5.56mm. Powerful enough to pass through the body, I know that much I've used them so many fucking times." Connor concluded and deducted.

"Okay, then I suppose we may have the weapon that was used. But who the fuck used it and why is the real question." Shaun stated.

"You may be missing one fundamental detail about that truth, about that weapon." Brendan said.

Shaun and Connor both turned to the former Crimson.

"Service Rifle. It's an NCR weapon. I've been in the Mojave since I was a kid, I've never seen it used by anyone else other than the Republic." Sawyer revealed.

Connor knew Brendan was right, so much so he couldn't argue. Just nod his head.

"Yeah, yeah. But I can't imagine a reason any NCR member would want to kill Hanlon. He's well respected by everyone." Connor said.

"Respect means nothing, Connor." Brendan replied.

"We ask around here, about anything suspicious in the last few weeks. But we ask normal troopers, not any main ones. We ask the small troopers, out of the way, doing normal jobs." Connor stated.

All three men agreed, and they went off around Golf to ask as many Troopers as possible about anything that may have seemed odd in the weeks before Hanlon was found. Brendan not so many people cooperated with, because a face was never forgotten in the wasteland. They all knew who he was, but as he had left the legion and everyone knew he was on a mission for Colonel Hsu, he was allowed passage to the Camp. Shaun's almost inability to speak with people normally lowered his chances of getting anywhere, so that left only Connor, who was still quite disliked around the entire Camp. He asked the same question to anyone he could. _Did you notice anything or anyone odd or suspicious recently?_ But he hardly got a real reply beyond a grunt or a simple "no". Until he came across one woman, who seemed to have an answer to his question. Kiley her name was.

"One person, strange, not from around here. They turned up not long before all this shit went down. _He_ spoke to Hanlon." She said.

"They were talking huh? Was Oliver mentioned?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, now that you come to mention it, he was. Since Hanlon was second only _to_ General Oliver I thought nothing of it. His name were some of the words mentioned, but I never heard anything more than that." Kiley replied.

Connor looked down and let out a sigh.

"What'd this guy look like?" Connor asked.

"He wore a suit. A light grey, thin striped suit. Had a dark fedora too with sunglasses. I never really got a look at his face beyond just from a distance and any closer I couldn't make out because of those glasses." She informed him.

The dishonoured medic was confused. A suit? Fedora? He couldn't really think of any person in the wasteland specifically, because those were clothes _anyone_ could wear if they wanted.

"Well, thanks for your time." Connor muttered.

The female trooper only looked at him, in his eyes for a few moments as he walked away. Connor then felt unwelcomed from her, even after she had given him more information than anyone else even bothered to. Meanwhile, at the edge of Lake Las Vegas, Brendan and Shaun sat on the dusty, rocky ground overlooking the large puddle of irradiated water.

"So, how long's it been since you saw your, brothers should I call them?" Brendan asked, initiating a conversation with the almost mute Shaun.

"Almost ten months." Shaun replied bluntly.

It was difficult talking to this man, it made Brendan almost uncomfortable, like he was walking through a dark corridor rigged with trip wires.

"Well, there's something you have over Kirkbride and myself. Your people still want you, they still accept you. You're still one of them." Brendan said, looking off at the lake, eyes squinted due to the blazing blinding sun.

Shaun didn't reply, he just let the former legionary continue.

"I felt like I didn't belong anymore. I wasn't kicked out of the Legion, I left on my accord. I should've thought twice, because before I knew it, they wanted me dead for choosing to now take a different path. I thought maybe, just _maybe,_ because I left myself, I'd have some form of respect, or at least acceptance throughout this fucking place."

Brendan had picked up a small rock and then threw it into the poisoned water.

"Instead, I'm just as hated now. Like I'm now a backstabber to not just the citizens of the Mojave, but the Legion aswell. I'm vilified for trying to live a different life, but I'm also hated everywhere for choosing, years ago, to follow a path I thought was worth following at the time, for choosing what I believed was best for me." Brendan told Shaun.

Shaun finally had something to say.

"…And none of that _really_ bothers you?" Shaun asked.

"No, my strong belief is, we live the lives we create. That no matter what the fuck we do, whatever good we attempt to prove of ourselves, everything ends up the same. Nothing ever changes." Brendan replied.

Before Shaun could reply again, they were interrupted by the former NCR member.

"I got something." Connor called out.

Brendan and Shaun heard and then stood up to regroup. They walked over to Connor who was staring out at nothing, just the sky.

"What?" Brendan asked.

"A woman, trooper. She saw Hanlon talking a guy here not so long ago, maybe a week or two. Above just that, this guy sounds a little strange to me. He doesn't sound like a normal guy around here. Stranger than that though, she heard them both mention Oliver's name." Connor revealed to them.

Brendan and Shaun listened and were just as puzzled as Connor about the information, nevertheless impressed with Kirkbride's results.

"Congratulations, who knew you were this competent?" Brendan said with that hint of sarcasm.

Connor only lowered his brow to the comment, and it did make him laugh inside, rather than offend.

"How was this 'guy' strange?" Brendan then asked.

"Apparently wore a light thin striped suit, a dark fedora and wore sunglasses. You wanna get a search on a guy like that, go right ahead, because I can imagine a long list of suspects." Connor replied.

Brendan listened, turned his eyes away from Connor to the ground, back to Connor and then they could see Sawyer had had a thought.

"No, that isn't a common dress among Mojave citizens, the only people I know that dress like that are…" Brendan stopped.

Shaun and Connor looked at each other in confusion and were then eager to hear the answer.

"Are who?" Connor almost demanded.

Brendan's eyebrows were slightly low, and he took a deep inhale and exhale, almost like he was frightened.

"The Omertas."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **04:19PM, WEDNESDAY MAY 14TH, 2282, MOJAVE WASTELAND**

Weird is what it would feel like to others. But to Brendan Sawyer, cutting around a dead rabid dog's neck was almost a regular occurrence. Usually the Legion would do this to a fox but he was settling for the next best thing. Brendan had a liking for the Vexillarius helmets the Legionaries would often wear, but he had never had one since he abandoned them, now he would just create his own. Sounds nobody close wanted to hear came from the bloody hunting knife as he cut it all around the dogs head. Kirkbride and Morse could only listen. Morse was curious to know what he was doing, therefore kept his eyes on the former Legionaries actions, whilst the former medic kept his back turned but eyes still shut, wanting the noises of flesh and bone crackling to stop.

"Everyone's gonna think you're with the Legion if you wear one of those." Connor told Brendan.

Brendan just kept sawing his way through the dead dog's spine.

"But I'm with you two, so it really doesn't fucking matter." Brendan replied.

Shaun kept watching, eyes moving from Brendan's face and back to the knife which was now deep in the neck of the dead rabid beast.

"I think I've seen one of these things before, like a wolf head thing." The Brother of steel muttered.

"Yeah… But usually they're fox's heads but you know… same difference." Brendan replied.

His face was now shining with sweat, the job he was doing becoming increasingly difficult the further he got into the neck. Connor was a former medic who had seen a lot worse but watching and listening to someone purposely cut and slice into a dead animals body made him a tad queasier than seeing someone with a bullet wound. It started to become a bit too much.

"For fuck sake, you have a machete, why can't you just take the damn things head off?" Connor asked, angrily.

"It's blunt, I'm trying to expose the spine so the bluntness of the blade won't matter." Sawyer replied.

Connor's head fell into his right palm before he turned around.

"You left the fucking Legion, why do you want this fucking hat thing so bad?" Connor had to ask.

"Well it's not a hat, more of a helmet, and I like them, its maybe the one thing I take from my time in the Legion with a little sentimental value." Sawyer told him.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Brendan took out the knife, wiped the blood off on the dusty and sandy ground.

"You understand that right? Coming from the NCR? Gotta be something you took from it before you were kicked to the curb." Brendan asked.

Connor listened, eyebrows went from low to high as he thought about the question. The former Medic reached into his pocket and pulled out his NCR dog tags.

"Ah, you do." Brendan smiled.

He then turned to Morse.

"And you, still wearing the funny outfit the Brotherhood wear underneath the power armour." He pointed out.

Shaun listened, but didn't reply, still looking at the dead dog with a now fully exposed spine, which looked like a large gap between the head and the body. Brendan handed Shaun his hunting knife back and then got out his blunt-ish machete. It took only one swing up and down and the sound of bones breaking before the dogs head was no longer attached to the body.

Hours later, all three men sat around a campfire, it wasn't far from Camp Golf they set up this little camp for the night, so danger was low, nothing they couldn't handle with all they had. It had been over a day since they inspected Chief Hanlon's dead body and concluded that he had spoken to an Omerta before his death. Brendan being the one to deduce the fact he was visited by the runners of Gomorrah, he had not been the same since. This former legionary never was short of words, but now, almost as silent as Shaun. Connor knew it was time to think ahead now that they had a lead. Now was the best time, when it was just the three in silence, at night. Shaun lay on his back, body spread out gazing up at the night sky, Connor sat, one knee bent, the other leg spread, watching Brendan as he had now finished his Vexillarius helmet. Now skinned and now finished on the fire he held it. It would be on his head by morning.

"So, you think it was an Omerta that talked to Hanlon?" Connor asked.

Brendan snapped out of his trance.

"I know it. They wear suits like that girl described. The fedora, sunglasses, everything, it makes sense. They're dangerous people too, kill for anything fucking reason." He told Connor.

"How do you know that?" asked Kirkbride.

"I know them, I had deals with them while I was in the Legion. We can get to the guy who spoke to Hanlon." Brendan said, almost eagerly, but more regretful.

"How do you mean?" Shaun creeped in on the conversation, still awake and listening.

His voice in the corner was unexpected by his two 'partners'.

"I left the Legion a year ago, but I stopped dealing with the Omerta six months before that. They don't know I've left the Legion, so I could still get deep in that casino, talk to them." Brendan said.

Connor sat and thought about this idea, whether it would work or not.

"After almost two years, and the battle at the Dam, you sure the Omerta's would just allow you into the casino and to talk with the big guys?" Connor asked, the scenarios sounding unrealistic to him.

"I know it sounds pretty impossible, but I can talk the talk, I know how they work, but I know how dangerous they can be. I've seen it." Brendan revealed.

Shaun then sat up from the ground and turned to face Brendan.

"What do you mean… 'Seen it'?" Shaun asked.

Brendan looked at both Shaun and Connor, who both wanted him to talk to them about the Omerta's, what he had seen and just what they were dealing with.

"This one time, I was in the casino with them. Must've been maybe the fourth or fifth time I was in a deal with them, more weapons to help us fight, or more Psycho to help us in battles. But this time there was someone else there. This other guy, wanting deals too. I don't know who he was working for or where he came from. He talked a little too much. I can talk too much, but I know what I am talking about, he didn't. This guy was asking too many questions, wanting to know too much, he wasn't undercover or anything, I guess he was just naively excited to be in with the Omerta's. Eventually they wouldn't answer his dumb and continuous questions, and they kept talking to me more, since they'd dealt with me before. Jealous this guy got, demanding they offer him a bigger deal than me because he could 'beat my cap amount by a fucking mile'."

Connor and Shaun kept listening.

"Anyways, I was from the Legion, but not wearing my Legion armour, and this guy was so stupid he didn't realise it already, my cap offer was always gonna beat his, so he gets mad. He pulls out a big 44. Magnum, looked bigger than him, probably never fired a bullet. Needless to say, Big Sal didn't take too kindly to being aimed at, so his men seized this stupid asshole. Took the magnum away and then knocked him out with it. Sal told the guys to take him 'downstairs'. I never saw the guy alive again, but I did see what they did to him. A few hours later, I was being taken to the bottom floor to see the stash of drugs and weapons I was getting with the deal, when on my way to that room, I got a glimpse in another room, door being slowly shut."

Brendan stopped his story. Connor and Shaun patiently waiting for him to continue. The former legionary took a deep breath.

"I saw the same guy, but only his head and neck, the rest of him was just… bits and pieces, blood and guts, bones all over a big fucking table. They'd mutilated the guy alive, for pointing a gun in their direction." Brendan had then finished.

Connor and Shaun were left quiet, they had seen some shit. Connor on the battlefield had seen things gruesome, that nobody wants to witness, and Shaun came from the Capital wasteland in DC, where things happen that are hoped to be only stories. But they both didn't like what they heard, even though in the Mojave, such a story was no surprise. Brendan's face was blank, staring at nothing but the air in front of him. He was clearly still disturbed by that sight. Even the Legion never did such things, they would leave a person on a cross to die slowly, but to dismember a person while they watch you do it was something even they never did.

"Now, the wasteland is full of evil bastards, but I don't know, I guess I just expected them to shoot the guy dead with his own magnum, not that." Brendan whispered.

He then snapped out of this second trance and turned to both Kirkbride and Morse.

"So, as you can tell, these people aren't the kind you wanna piss off. If I go in undercover pretending to still be a legionary and my cover gets blown, I might just get to watch myself get sliced to pieces in a mirror." Brendan told them with a sarcastic smile.

"We got nothing else." Connor told him calmly.

Brendan's eyebrows raised and he gently nodded, he knew Connor was right.

"I gotta do it. I just gotta find myself a normal suit. Can't be hard, and we can head to New Vegas in the morning." Brendan decided.

The former legionary was clearly unready for this, almost frightened, like a man having to walk through a street filled with his own worst fears. Brendan was a very tough man, but after what he had been through and what he had done in the past year, he knew that maintaining his cover with the Omerta's would be a hard job, but he had no other choice if they were going to find the truth about Hanlon.

Shaun felt the fear in Brendan.

"You go in, we'll be outside, or even inside to get you out if things go bad." Shaun said, trying to make it seem easier for the ex-Legionary.

"I'd appreciate that, but understand anyways, if things _do_ go bad, we're fucked." Brendan said bluntly.

More hours went by and now it was the early hours, the wasteland was pitch black around this fire, but the sounds of New Vegas could still be heard, that sound was now killing Brendan, knowing what he was heading into soon. Shaun was now fast asleep, Connor seemed it, but Brendan sat looking at the fire. He looked at his Vexillarius helmet, ready to be worn. It kept him reminded of the life he left behind, the life he grew up in, the life he chose to abandon. Brendan did not hate the Legion, he almost still loved them, he couldn't even understand why he felt he had to leave, but he did. This helmet could keep him attached to them even if it meant looking like one of them even slightly.

"Can I ask you something?" a voice asked.

Brendan was broken out of focus a third time and turned to see Connor with his eyes open.

"Sure." Brendan replied.

Connor then sat himself up, his white dirty t-shirt now even dirtier and dustier on the back. He was struggling to find the words. He and Brendan had not spoken about it yet, even after being together for days now on this mission. Connor scratched his head, through his thick black hair that went beyond his ears.

"That day, on the road, when we had you and the other legionaries in cuffs, why'd you do it? Why'd you save my ass?" Connor finally asked, after an entire year of confusion and wonder, he got to ask.

Brendan took a moment in silence and looked away to the ground beneath him and to the rabid dog helmet.

"I saved your life, because you saved mine." Brendan told him.

Connor didn't know certain reasons, but finally was getting them.

"That day, you didn't take three legionaries into custody, you took _two_ legionaries and the man they wanted dead into custody." Brendan revealed.

Connor knew instantly.

"They were gonna kill you, because you'd already broken from them." Connor nodded, his eyes looking away.

"You and your two trooper friends had stopped them from killing me, and when those raiders attacked, I saw the chance to return the favour you didn't know you'd made. And I'm no liar, I'll admit, I also did it hoping you would let me go in return, which you did." Brendan chuckled a little.

Connor's eyes moved back to Brendan.

"Well, all I can say is thank you. I never got to say that, and I never thought we'd cross paths again."

Brendan once again nodded in agreement.

"But then here we are" Connor then laughed.

Brendan was still silent and staring into nothing, Connor could see the fear in his eyes.

"Hey." Connor muttered.

Brendan then looked at him.

"This Omerta thing, being undercover. You sure you wanna do it?" Connor asked.

Brendan then finally, put on the Vexillarius helmet he had created himself. It fit almost perfectly, he felt warmer and ready to sleep with it on. Connor almost admired this act.

"Not exactly." Brendan whispered back.

Not another word, Brendan finally lay down, turned his back and went to sleep. Connor was left in wonder. He wondered if Brendan could go through with it, and if the results at the end would be worth the trouble and danger he would be putting himself in.

He guessed they would find out.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

 **01:56PM, THURSDAY MAY 15TH, 2282, NEW VEGAS STRIP**

All three of them loved women, but standing outside of Gomorrah staring up at the two mirroring lights of two of them lap dancing made them feel almost sick. They'd travelled far from Camp Golf in last two days, stopping off at 188 Trading Outpost to get Brendan a good looking suit to help him blend in and get Connor and Shaun casual clothes to help them look like regular Vegas goers. Getting through Freeside had been a strange part, it felt as if they were being watched as they passed through it, even though being watched and observed by the residents of Freeside wasn't uncommon given its dangerous and grim reputation. It was a horrible, broken down, poor place full of people who couldn't get into New Vegas. These people needed to get by and live somehow, so they turned to many things from forming factions, creating business or simply murdering and scavenging to get by. The NCR had helped the three of them get free passes into New Vegas, after Connor had explained to a guarding Trooper what exactly they were doing. Hsu had let the word out to the rest of the NCR throughout the Mojave just what the three of them were doing for them, for the purpose of either helping them, or making even surer that they wouldn't try to abandon the mission, or both. Brendan had been a nervous wreck ever since he decided to go ahead with the idea of going back undercover and infiltrating Gomorrah and hopefully getting the Omerta out that had spoken to Hanlon a week before his death. Connor and even Shaun had tried to get him to talk, or say anything about the plan he had in his head, but Brendan had never been as focused on anything ever before in his life. Fear was overwhelming but he had to hide it as if he had never known what fear was, because one slip up, one mistake amongst the Omerta's, they would now he wasn't who he seemed and he wouldn't be leaving that casino again. No matter how scared and unready he was, he did have a plan, and on the way to New Vegas he had told Connor and Shaun just what he was going to do.

"As soon as I get in there, my weapons are gone, taken from me by the door guard." Brendan told his partners.

Connor and Shaun listened to every single detail.

"So after that, I'll have to really fucking observe the entire place for an Omerta I know is near the top of the chain. I've known them a while so I doubt that'll be a problem. Once I have one, I'll ask to see Nero, they'll most probably say I have no chance, but I'll think of something, my big mouth does have its uses. When I get to see Nero, on the second floor of the casino, he won't see me alone, they'll be another two guys in the room, one guard and probably Big Sal, his right hand motherfucker. I get to see those two, I'll get to known just who was sent to see Hanlon before he was killed. Once they tell me, I'll get that guy out."

Connor didn't understand that last statement.

"How the fuck will you get him out in that situation?" The ex-medic asked.

"Look, as deadly as the Omerta's are, the only real intelligent ones are Nero and Big Sal. Cachino was too but he was killed last year. So since these guys aren't the sharpest, I'll be able to lead the suspect away from the main room and up to the hotel floor. That's where you two come in."

That took the other two by surprise, they didn't realize they were really in this plan.

"You both have to come in the Casino too, but at separate times, after me. If we all walk in together, it'll look suspicious. So you two stay in the main room, gamble, flirt, whatever just _stay there_. You both need to blend in well, while still keeping an eye on everything going on, make sure it doesn't look like anyone suspects anything. _If_ it looks like they're starting to believe something fishy is going down, you make some sort of distraction. When you both see me walk into the main hall with an Omerta in front of me, that's the signal I got the piece of the shit. Once you see that, you _definitely_ make a distraction, and I _mean_ a fucking distraction, such a one that gets all of the guards to take notice, letting me slip out the door." Brendan finished his explanation.

Connor and Shaun were almost as overwhelmed as Brendan, but knew that _he_ was the one in the most danger, maybe even the _only_ _one_ in danger.

Now here the three of them were, Brendan fully suited, brown thin striped. Connor wearing a t-shirt and jeans, however Shaun simply wore a leather jacket and slacks, the obvious black sheep of the three, despite all three of them being extremely different people. They stood outside of Gomorrah, watching the burning flames and the dancing women outside.

"Hey baby, 50 caps and I'm at your command." Connor had been told as they stood by.

Connor did not reply. He was so focused on the problem at hand, the execution of this plan that had only been actually planned for two days. Something in him thought it was gonna take a miracle if this would be successful, but another part of him was thinking if they stuck closely to Brendan's plan, they would be totally fine.

"Okay, you two remember, _keep your eyes open and moving_." He told them faintly so others around them wouldn't really hear or notice anything odd.

"You think we'll find the person that iced Hanlon?" Connor asked.

"I can see it, we get this fucker out, we take him back to McCarran, we get what we need." Brendan had to reassure Connor, who was clearly getting overcome with anxiety.

"That's your honest thought?" Connor asked again. Needy.

"That's my honest thought, Connor." The former legionary told him.

"Let's move." Shaun suddenly stated.

Shaun had hardly said a word, his main goal in all of this was to get back to the Brotherhood, but he was in this now, and wanted things to play out, and by god if he could help it, they would.

Brendan went in first, and as he expected, was met by the reception guard who walked right up to him.

"If you're coming in here, you hand over your weapons." This Omerta thug ordered.

Brendan saw this coming, and it was a part of his plan.

"No." Brendan replied bluntly.

The Omerta guard was taken aback by being flat out denied.

"I don't think you heard me, fucker. Hand over the weapons, or get the fuck out." The guard then growled, his voice lower to not cause a scene.

Brendan looked him right in the eye and did nothing.

This Omerta had had enough now, he didn't know who this punk thought he was, disobeying casino rules. His hand went for Brendan's left arm, but Brendan was one step ahead and snapped his right arm quick and grabbed the Omerta's hand before it could touch him. Furious wasn't the word, this guard was ready to kill Brendan, until he heard his words.

"Tell the boss, Bromious is here." Brendan ordered the Omerta.

The guard looked to Brendan's eyes, he now knew who he was and was slightly confused and angered. Behind his tinted sunglasses, Brendan could see the realization in this thug.

"What the fuck, man?" Asked the thug, forcing his right hand out of Brendan's.

This Omerta now knew who he was talking to and recognized Brendan. However he only knew him by his Legionary title 'Bromious' which Brendan now resented, but _had_ to use in order to keep his cover.

"Donny. I wanna see Nero." Brendan told him.

Donny was the guard, Brendan still remembered him, they had encountered each other before, back when Brendan had regular meetings in Gomorrah on the Legion's behalf. Donny heard Brendan's statement but didn't reply.

" _Now_." Brendan emphasised.

"Nero ain't gonna wanna see you." Donny replied.

"Oh I think he might. When he hears what I gotta say." Brendan told him.

Donny still denied.

"Okay then, well let me rephrase. Maybe _you_ don't wanna see Nero."

Brendan knew what Donny meant. Since the Legion was mostly wiped out in the Hoover Dam battle a year before, Nero, Big Sal, and in fact most of the Omerta's would of thought Brendan was dead. Now seeing him in fact alive was suspicious.

"Look, I'm not here to start anything. Us Crimson on the other side of the river have been lying low, not many of us now. We wanted a little help. So I've sought you out for that." Brendan lied.

"Bullshit. You think I'm an idiot?" Donny replied.

"You'd be an idiot not to listen."

Donny scowled at Brendan, he didn't trust him, especially now after thinking he'd been dead for a year.

"Take me to Nero, you'll be missing out on something big." Brendan tried to assure Donny.

Donny looked into Brendan's eyes and thought. If Donny turned this away, what would the repercussions be if Bromious was telling the truth?

"Follow me." Donny ordered.

Meanwhile, outside of Gomorrah, Connor and Shaun stood, leaning against the wall to the side of the main entrance. Brendan had been in around fifteen minutes at this point.

"Alright, I'm going in." Connor told Shaun.

"You sure you think it's the right time?" Shaun asked.

"I'm going along with this plan, and since Legionaries are quite good at planning, I'll trust him on his orders. You follow me in after another fifteen." The medic replied.

Shaun then watched as Connor entered the casino. When Connor entered, he was greeted by the receptionist, a beautiful woman who was all smiles.

"Good afternoon sir, I have to ask you to handover any weapons you might be carrying." She asked the former NCR soldier nicely.

Connor had on him only his 9mm pistol and brass knuckles. He handed over only the former, once again hiding the latter very well.

"Thank you sir, enjoy your time at Gomorrah." She told him happily.

Connor entered the main room, full of roulette and blackjack tables. He observed the entire area, which he was good at. Within minutes he saw three Omerta's in the room, all armed with 44. Magnums. There were many innocent people, so starting a major firefight was unwise, even though that was a scenario out of the question. Other than that, the only people left were the dealers and the dancing women. But, what hit him the most, was what he _couldn't_ see. Where was Brendan?

He was on the second floor now, looking down at the rest of the casino, at the gambling tables, the bar, the girls dancing all around, as nice as this place appeared Brendan knew it was the complete opposite. Brendan kept slowing down, his nerves getting the better of him more and more every corridor they turned.

"Keep up!" Donny told him looking back, seeing Brendan had slowed again.

Brendan kept his cool and kept making sure his suit was tidy, knowing Nero would look for any faults. Donny led Brendan to the same place he would always meet with Nero and Sal, the balcony overlooking the Brimstone bar, with two chairs outside of Nero's main office. If he had a dread level, it would be filled to the brim right now. This former legionary knew exactly how he had to act to keep his cover, but he seemed to be out of control and doing the opposite, that was until he was face to face with one of the deadliest Omerta's. Big Sal was in front of him, arms crossed, dead eyed. Brendan hated this man.

"You're supposed to be dead." Said Sal.

"Believe me, I wish I was." Brendan replied.

Sal smiled and laughed at his comment, this man may have been one of the only brains of the Omerta's, but that wasn't saying _a lot_.

"What're you doing here?" He asked.

"Legion business, we need your help, and we think you might like what we have for you." Brendan lied.

Sal raised one eyebrow and thought for a few moments. Before pulling out his sawed off shotgun and aimed it straight at Brendan's stomach.

"I don't like liars." Sal could see Brendan wasn't telling the truth, forcing him to think of something more believable.

"Fine, I'm here on behalf of the Legion, or what's left of it, to ask an important question that could benefit us and the Omerta's." Brendan told Sal, with a more confident posture.

Sal stared at Brendan, his dead eyes looking deep into the ex-legionaries nervous acting ones.

"Get in." Sal ordered Brendan, pointing his shotgun to the door to Nero's main office.

Brendan froze, knowing that he could be entering his final room, the last room he would ever see. Before Sal could tell him again, Brendan casually wiped the sweat from his brow and walked into the room slowly and was met with what was the most dangerous Omerta of them all.

Shaun stood outside of the building, he had been waiting around twenty minutes since Connor entered after Brendan, he thought he'd ignore Connor's fifteen minute rule and go in a little while after. Shaun was never one for being one of the _planners_. Where he'd come from, he was only ever the man following orders, so this was something he had hardly ever experienced. He'd thought of ditching Connor and Brendan right now while he could, thinking what they were doing was ridiculous, playing detective for the murder of some cunt he didn't even like or even know. Shaun couldn't lie to himself though, after living in isolation for eight months, he had grown close to his two partners, despite not conversing with them almost at all, he felt like they were now his friends. Leaving them was something he wasn't about to do, he was gonna get to the bottom of this, for himself, and for his brother's in Hidden Valley, hoping to get back to them soon, that being his _only_ motivation. A dancer had by this point approached him.

"Hey baby-" she was cut off by Shaun literally barging past her, his shoulder knocking her aside.

"Hey! Fuck you!" she shouted.

Shaun didn't even respond as he went through the main doors. As his two partner's before him, he was greeted with the same order, but he was faced with the same woman who met Connor.

"Good afternoon sir, I have to ask you to handover any weapons you might be carrying." She smiled and asked the Brother of Steel.

Shaun didn't give her any emotion, looking her dead in the eye saying nothing. She was quite freaked out by Shaun, his lack of words or facial expression seeming quite odd for a man entering a casino, especially a casino o as lively as Gomorrah. He still didn't hand over anything after lifting his jacket and showing he wasn't armed, however he did have a combat knife hidden on his person. Out of his depth, Shaun entered the main casino room and skimmed the area with his eyes, but only for Connor. The disgraced NCR medic was playing blackjack at a table and both men clocked each other with their eyes and slightly nodded, they were ready for the signal, all they needed was for Brendan to give them it.

"What're you doing back here suddenly?" Nero asked.

"We need to talk to you, as the only other faction in the Mojave we still really can trust." Brendan replied.

"Don't kiss our asses, what're you really doing here?" Sal asked, in a demanding tone.

"Maybe a little business." Brendan told them.

"I don't really do business with Crimson anymore." Nero told Brendan.

Brendan was sat across from Nero and Sal on a couch with Donny standing guard at the door, making sure he could never escape if everything fucked up.

"Look, we've heard things recently and wanted to ask some questions, and depending on the answers depends on how we proceed afterwards." Brendan was getting pretty good at lying.

"I don't like your words and tone. You ain't in charge here." Big Sal butted in.

Brendan leaned forward in Sal's direction.

"Nobody's in charge here, this isn't any gang talk, any shady deal, I am just asking a question, and I just want an answer. And if a deal is what you want, again, depending on your answer will decide whether or not the deal may happen." Brendan told Sal calmly but quietly.

"Get him out of here." Nero signaled Donny.

Donny didn't think twice, he moved towards Brendan.

"Chief Hanlon! Why did you guy's visit him?!" Brendan raised his voice before Donny could get him.

Nero and Sal looked at one another, Brendan couldn't tell what the look meant, whether he had surprised them, or whether they thinking about silencing him permanently. Donny still grabbed a hold of Brendan's shirt.

"No!" Nero yelled to Donny.

"Drop him."

Donny released Brendan as quickly as he grabbed him.

Brendan shot Donny an evil look and then composed himself.

"Hanlon's dead. We don't know what you mean." Sal told Brendan.

"Wrong, an Omerta was seen at Camp Golf a week before Hanlon turned up dead, the Legion just want to know if you all had something to do with it?" Brendan finally asked.

"Why?" Nero replied.

Brendan was having to rapidly think of explanations here.

"We heard that his body was found with Legion spears in his back, but we didn't do it. We've kept low and stayed at the Fort ever since the battle at the Dam. And as you well know, the Legion couldn't get anywhere near Golf without being shot on sight. So we just wanna know who exactly is trying to frame us. We wanted to know if it was you, or if you were ordered to by someone else." Brendan told them, his heart pumped faster when he was finished as he knew he was angering Nero and Sal with his words.

For a good few moments, Brendan heard nothing, both men just looked at each other. Brendan had to say something else.

"Which Omerta talked to Hanlon?" Brendan asked another question.

"We don't know of any of us who talked to Hanlon at Golf. You bullshitting?" Sal asked.

"No, we've heard rumours and we have sources that say an NCR trooper told of a man in a suit exactly like all of yours, was at Camp Golf one day, talking to Hanlon before he was killed and the legion was framed. Any of you suddenly disappear during that time?" Brendan was becoming desperate, if Sal and Nero didn't know, who the fuck would?

"Look, we don't know of any frame against the Legion, we used to do business with you all before what happened at the Dam, so we have no reason to go against you like that." Nero told him.

"But, we have one guy, Len. He told us he had family shit to deal with, so we let him leave, to go do whatever the fuck. He was gone about six days. Could've been him." Nero then added.

Brendan was now almost excited, he had a name and possible suspect.

"You're sure?" Brendan asked.

"Oh we're sure, I broke his face for staying away too long." Sal said, trying to intimidate the former legionary.

Brendan thought about this, Len could've been under orders of someone else to go speak to Hanlon, but not told anything at all to the other Omerta's. Maybe the Omerta's didn't have anything to do with this.

"Can I talk to him?" Brendan finally got to ask.

"Where is he?" Nero turned to Donny.

"Last I saw he was in the Casino room." Donny replied.

Connor had been doing pretty badly at Blackjack, lost every chip he'd bought, but even that wasn't much. He and Shaun had been killing time in the casino awaiting for any signal from their ex-legionary friend. Connor had been flirting with the woman who supplied the chips, and Shaun had been playing roulette, finding it simpler for his easy going kind than Blackjack. Both men were getting more and more tense as more and more minutes went by without any sign from Brendan. Connor was observing anything, looking for anything related to their plan and finally he got something. An Omerta had entered the Casino and walked over to another Omerta who was keeping watch in the room. Both of them seemed to be acting shady, the newly arrived guy whispered in the other's ear. The guard of the room had a swelled nose, like it had been broken recently.

Connor gave Shaun a look and made him see the same thing. Shaun knew something was going on by the faces these two men were pulling while talking. Both Kirkbride and Morse watched as the guard with the broken nose followed the other into the small passage with the elevators and that's when they knew. Connor and Shaun both watched as they left the casino room and they saw the guard with the injured face come into contact with Brendan. They saw Sawyer for a brief moment before they walked away into the Brimstone bar, but before they were out of sight, Brendan turned to Connor who was still sat at the Blackjack table and gave him a simple yet meaningful look and Connor knew that was the signal. Shaun saw Connor then give him the signal, and they were ready to execute the distraction they had planned.

Brendan sat at a table in the Brimstone bar, darkly lit and reeking of a sinister vibe, he saw Donny lead Len into the bar and sit him down in the seat to Brendan's right. Sal and Nero joined them, curious as Brendan to find out what Len was hiding. An awkward silence consumed all four men for a good minute or two before Brendan first spoke.

"What were you doing when you went to see Hanlon at Camo Golf?" Brendan asked quietly.

"I don't understand." Len replied.

Brendan looked at him with a dark look on his face and leaned further towards his face.

"Don't. Fucking. Lie to me." Brendan growled.

Len was now genuinely scared. Scared of this man interrogating him and his own bosses, whose silence frightened him further.

"I want to know, just exactly what you spoke to Chief Hanlon about, and just exactly who told you to do it." Brendan demanded.

Len didn't make eye contact, knew he was outplayed and cornered, but before he could speak, all men at the table heard shouting and screaming. Donny, Sal and Nero were the first to get up off the table.

"What the fuck's going on!?" Sal shouted.

Nero equipped his assault carbine.

"I don't know but this is getting in the fucking way right now!" Nero was pissed off, this inconvenience interrupting this 'meeting'.

Nero stormed out of the room, carbine in hand, on a war path. Big Sal watched and then turned to Donny.

"You stay with them two, we'll be right back, make sure neither of them move." Sal ordered of Donny.

Sal then ran out of the room, shotgun at the ready.

Out in the casino, Shaun had a knife against a Blackjack dealer's throat from behind. People were frightened and trying to leave but were too scared to go past Shaun. He had the entire casino floor held up.

"You fucking cheated me!" Shaun was yelling, the loudest Connor had ever heard him speak.

"This piece of shit cheated me out of my caps!" He kept going.

Connor was standing a few feet away acting like the negotiator.

"Come on man, just put the knife down, maybe you've had one too fucking many here." Connor was playing roleplay with Shaun.

"Back up! Or the dealer bleeds out!" Shaun told Connor.

"Please! I did nothing!" the Dealer begged.

Nero was then noticed, about seven yards from Shaun and the dealer aiming his carbine in their direction.

"You don't let my dealer go, I'll have to take you both out!" Nero shouted.

Shaun turned, with the dealer turning with him into Nero's direction, consequently turning away from Connor.

"I want my caps, and then I'll leave." Shaun told the boss.

"You can't leave now, not unless I'm guaranteed you're a dead man." Sal then revealed himself a few feet from Nero aiming down his sawed off.

Before Shaun could taunt them any further, Connor was standing behind him. With as gentle as gentle could be but still looking real, Connor swung a punch at Shaun head from behind with his Brass knuckles on his fist. Shaun felt the punch hard, but it wasn't injury level. Nevertheless he still let go of the dealer and pretended to collapse to the floor. Connor, useful with his brass knuckles, had them off his hand and hidden away already before Shaun hit the deck.

"Nice one guy, now move away!" Nero told Connor.

"No! I'll take care of this one!" Connor replied.

Nero slowly walked over, carbine aimed.

"I want this man dead, causing a huge scene in my casino!" Nero yelled.

"I know, but trust me, you shooting up a man, in here, now, not the best idea right?" Connor tried to calm down Nero.

"Move the fuck away…" Big Sal told Connor with a pitiful tone.

"Look, this guy's a fucking idiot, not an assassin, not a soldier, he's just a drunken cunt. Let me lead the fucker out and I'll personally dispose of him for you. No need to get your own hands' dirty, huh?" Connor was doing his best, one wrong word and they'd shoot Shaun dead.

Nero had his carbine aimed, ready to fire, but at a speedy pace, suddenly had his gun aimed at the ground and pushed Sal's shotgun down with his right hand.

"Seriously?" Sal asked his boss.

"I'll let you do that, but trust me. I see you, or him in here again, I'll know you lied, and I'll put you both down." Nero whispered to Connor so nobody else could hear but just them.

After Sal and Nero had quickly left the room, time was now short and ticking, it was now or never for Brendan.

"What the fuck is going o-" Len was cut off.

Brendan, at an unreal speed, had grabbed Len by the back of the head and smashed his face off the table, smashing a drinking glass in the process. Donny reacted as fast as he could with his 44. Magnum but it wasn't fast enough. Brendan launched out of his chair into Donny's direction, grabbing the magnum and pushing it away from both of them. He hit Donny in the chest hard with his shoulder, weakening his grip of the magnum, giving Brendan full use of it. Donny felt like his throat had been crushed as Brendan hit the butt of the magnum full force into Donny's jugular. Unbearable pain took over Donny as he clutched his throat with both hands and collapsed to the ground. Brendan then turned back to Len and forced him out of the chair by his left arm.

"Get up. GET UP!" Brendan ordered, magnum pointed at him.

"What the fuck are you doing man?!" Len asked in pain himself, cuts all over his face and his nose bleeding again.

Brendan got behind Len and grabbed the back of his neck. Len felt the muzzle of the 44. Dig into the bottom of his back.

"Shut the fuck up and move." Brendan whispered in his ear.

Brendan led Len out of the Brimstone bar and back into the elevator passage but only went to the opposite side, to the door that led to the stairs to the second floor. Brendan waited. He heard the commotion die down just around the corner of the wall. Sal and Nero he could hear coming, talking shit about 'two motherfuckers', no doubt his partners. Brendan and Len hid behind the door as Sal and Nero re-entered the Brimstone bar. Time seemed to slow, even though almost none of it is what they had.

"You act normal, like we're walking out together, and I'm trying to help you. If you say anything by god I'll kill you, and I'll die in the process, I don't give a shit." Brendan said grimly.

Len could sense this was a man who meant what he said, this man had _balls_.

"Sure." Len replied.

As fast as humanly possible but looking normal, Brendan and Len walked out of the door and around into the casino and past the innocent bystanders. Brendan could see a traumatized-looking dealer, and everyone seemed to be composing themselves. Brendan could almost hear everything Nero screamed back in the bar, finding Donny almost unconscious and him and Len gone, but it didn't matter, looking like a medic helping the now disfigured Omerta, Brendan winked at the receptionist before leaving the casino by the front door. The never fresh but cool air of the Mojave and The strip were like stepping into heaven, it had worked, his plan had _worked._ He wouldn't see Connor and Shaun, as they probably had went over to the Lucky 38, their meeting point for when the job was over.

"You still could've been a little softer with the punch." Shaun complained to Connor.

"Look, we did it didn't we?" Connor asked him.

"Whatever, I guess." Shaun replied.

"We fucking did." Brendan told them as he entered the empty lobby.

Connor and Shaun looked almost surprised, like they couldn't believe what they had actually accomplished.

"Holy shit, you did it." Connor was gobsmacked.

"Yeah, but no time for celebration, I'll tie this guy up first and then we change back into our clothes, we gotta get outer the Strip and back to McCarran. But we gotta go through Freeside, the other way, fuck it, too risky." Brendan told them.

Connor and Shaun got back into their other clothes, Connor's merc grunt outfit and Shaun's ruined recon armour respectively and after Len's hands were tied, Brendan looked like a knock off legionary once again, more comfortable. Brendan tore off Len's suit jacket so he could look more like a normal civilian who had caused trouble than a an Omerta, which would surely attract eyes on the walk back to McCarran. Connor loaded his 9mm which he had back, Shaun took his stashed 10mm from behind the empty bar and gave it a full clip, safety off and Brendan put his cowboy repeater on his back but for now was sticking with the 44. Magnum he had stolen from Donny.

"Alright, we're ready?" Connor asked the others.

They all nodded, Shaun stood back to his normal quiet self and Brendan with the magnum still aimed at Len's back, but standing as if he was still pretending to help the injured man.

"Okay, let's just get back to McCarran… never thought I'd ever say that again." Connor chuckled.

The four men exited the empty lobby of the Lucky 38 and headed sharply to the entrance to Freeside.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

 **03:23PM, THURSDAY MAY 15TH, 2282, FREESIDE**

NCR Troops were on the other side of the gate entering Freeside as the trio came through holding their Omerta hostage. NCR soldiers all around the Mojave knew of these three and their given mission, so no questions were ever asked, especially in and around New Vegas. Mere minutes had passed since all three of them succeeded in a very near suicidal plan to go undercover in Gomorrah, risking everything. How they all came out of that scenario alive, Brendan didn't know.

"Move your ass." Brendan told Len, the hostage. "We gotta long walk to McCarron, so your legs better hold up."

They walked through the gates into Freeside and as the now direct sunlight temporarily blinded them, their visions were cleared to see the dusty, poor and near destroyed streets of this poverty ridden area. People sitting on the corners of streets begging, people murdering or stealing from one another, gangs patrolling the streets, this place was just as grim as a Deathclaw cave, except more personal. Connor observed the area like the soldier he truly was, he couldn't really see that many people, which nor bothered or surprised him. It was the unpredictability of Freeside that gave him stomach aches. People had been known to go missing in these streets very often, never to be seen again, he would make damn sure they weren't to fall into that section of people.

"You three are Hsu's group right?" The NCR trooper asked, his voice muffled behind his face scarf.

"We're helping Hsu, yeah." Snapped Shaun, who wouldn't let anyone say that they were being controlled by the NCR.

Service Rifle in hands, the NCR trooper turned to his buddy and spoke quietly, letting Brendan get a tighter hold on Len, almost breaking his arm.

"Agh fuck! Take it easy!" Len was loud.

"Shut your fucking mouth…" Brendan calmly replied, not even looking in Lens direction, despite him being directly in front.

Back came one of the NCR soldiers, they'd finished their talk.

"Alright, we've been ordered to escort you back, assuming this man is the one you're bringing back to McCarran?" He asked.

"Lead the way." Connor told his fellow soldier.

One nod gave the NCR trooper and then nodded to his colleague and they both began walking down the street, protecting the trio from whatever could possibly hurt them. Connor, Brendan and Shaun followed directly behind, dragging Len whenever he slowed. Connor was still scowering the area, he noticed both buildings to each side, and the burnt out car and bus coming directly in front. Every man, looking up and down the area, were worried about the fact that they now had the man who spoke to Chief Hanlon, but still had the chance of losing him if they weren't careful enough. After all, no area in the Mojave was safe. Connor kept thinking about the mission, what would this Omerta lead them to, what was he talking to Hanlon about? Where could Oliv-

 **BANG!** Without warning, a hail of bullets started spraying in their direction, within seconds the two NCR troopers ordered to protect the trio were shredded. Their chests and heads mangled with bullet wounds, they dropped like sacks of shit to floor. All three of the trio ducked and crouched while moving as fast as they could, dragging the Omerta with them.

"Down! Move!" Connor yelled.

Bullets still flying over their heads they managed to hit cover behind the burnt out car. Their faces crunched and strained with the sounds of bullets clattering and the tinging of the metal vehicle being tore apart on the other side. Brendan was practically laying down on the floor still holding tight of Len, making sure he couldn't escape. Connor and Shaun, literally inches below certain bullets to the head, made Brendan and Len's safety their priority, this was almost instinct for the former NCR medic. Kirkbride popped up his head for a second or two to try and see the position on who was firing at them, but only saw a muzzle flash as another shot burst was fired, causing him to clump straight back down behind the car. His 9mm drew already, he turned to Shaun who was crouched only feet away from him on the other side of the vehicle.

"Cover?" Connor asked, almost as if Shaun would refuse otherwise.

They waited patiently for a brief moment of silence without bullets coming in their direction, then Shaun, 10mm pistol in hand stood up and leaned over the car roof and fired three shots in the direction of the oncoming hail of bullets. Connor used this as an opportunity to see the positions of the opposing shooters. He saw them pretty clearly before once again being forced back behind the car.

Bullets hailed across the street and at one moment, all three men could've sworn they saw two innocent people get taken down in the crossfire, but couldn't stop to see.

"Contact! Down by the side of the Impersonation school!" Connor told Shaun and Brendan.

Shaun kept firing away to keep the attention of the shooters on him while Connor used his cover as a way to fire at them. **One, two, three, four** shots Connor unloaded patiently from his pistol at the only people he could see firing at them. In an instant, Connor felt it so close it almost burnt his head. A bullet had went by his temple, if it had been an inch further to the right, he would've been dead. After this, he threw his back to the floor instantly to save himself.

"FUCK!" He shouted.

Thanks to this close encounter Connor realized they were being fired at very closely by a shooter inside the destroyed bus only a few meters in front of the car they we using for cover.

"On the bus?!" Shaun asked Connor loudly over the sound of rifles firing.

Connor just nodded while on the floor, seeing Shaun upside down.

"Okay, you cover me!" Shaun pretty much ordered Connor.

Connor nodded again and got himself back up, keeping low, the rifle ammo still planting into the car's other side. Len began to squirm, trying to get free of Brendan's grasp.

"You stay fucking still!" Brendan yelled.

Len then turned while on the floor and his knee hit straight into Brendan's groin, winding him, but also angering him.

"AGH YOU CUNT!" Brendan roared.

The former legionary managed to grab Len by his short hair, drag him down to the pavement out of the crossfire and beat his face in with rock from the street floor, almost deforming Len and rendering him unconscious. Connor saw this and was almost fearful of his now friend, seeing him savagely beat a man within an inch of life? Now that was like the legion. Kirkbride then, without looking to aim, raised his 9mm in hand over the hood of the car, everything but that arm staying in cover and unloaded his clip in the direction of the bus, letting Shaun focus. He aimed, and even with the hail of bullets making the street almost like a battlefield, time seemed to slow for the brother of steel. Shaun's hands and arms were still as ice as he saw the shooter in the bus appear once again when Connor's clip was out, and shot the shooter, only to hit him in the leg. Shaun being so used to laser weapons and having a lot of time out of combat wasn't helping. He then dove back into cover from the oncoming fire which seemed to never end.

"Hit his leg!" Shaun told Connor on the other side of cover.

Connor acknowledged Shaun's statement and then looked over at the bus, this time through the small windows and interior of the car. He could see the shooter now laying down, but still grasping his combat rifle, ready to fire. Before another single bullet could leave the shooters magazine, Connor had his 9mm aimed with both hands through the windows of the car, and shot him directly in the neck, causing what seemed like a mini explosion of blood and flesh as the shooter grasped his throat and died in seconds. With now one shooter down, they had to focus on the _two_ Connor saw down by the street beside the Kings School of Impersonation. Instincts of being a solider in combat kicking in, Connor knew they had to flank if they wanted a single chance. With their semi-automatic pistols against the enemies' clearly full automatic rifles, death was a slow inevitability. Observing the area around them once more, Connor saw a large alley to his right from the car that seemed to go directly around the building beside their shooters, a perfect flanking position.

Shaun moved up again, this time around the side of the car to fire at the shooters again.

"Shaun!" Connor shouted to get his attention.

Shaun looked.

Connor didn't speak, only gestured his hand towards the alley way.

The Brotherhood of Steel member looked while reloading his 10mm. Neither said anything to each other but they both knew what the other was thinking, until one bullet finally came all the way through the car, exiting through the metal door only inches above where Brendan's head was laying against the dusty ground.

"Alright, I'll cover you! Then you move yeah?!" Connor told Shaun.

"Okay! Then I'll cover you while you get your ass over there too!" Shaun replied.

Stress and intensity was beginning to take its toll but it stood, all three of them tried to remain as calm as humanly possible, as scared as they all were sure to be. Waiting until the gunfire down the street died down a bit, Shaun ran out of cover, keeping his head down, grasping his gun with both hands as Connor stood right up and fired at the enemies. **One! Two! Three! Four! Five!** The bullets went on being carefully fired. Shaun could feel the bullets skinning past his back, almost hitting in him in the ass as he then rolled the last few feet into the alley away from the gunfire. Finally he could breathe.

Now to get Connor, the man he might not even get out of this situation alive without.

"You gotta stay here! Keep him alive!" Connor told Brendan, his voice almost unhearable with the sound of gunfire screaming and shrieking over their heads.

"Yeah I got it! Hurry and kill the sons of bitches!" Brendan pushed Connor away from him, to get him to move faster.

Brendan was still laying on his back, clutching at his 44. while Len was lying in a small pool of his own facial blood and still knocked out after Brendan's rage fuelled assault moments earlier. Connor turned around crouched and saw Shaun about fifteen feet away from him. Connor nodded at Shaun, and it was now on. Shaun leaned out from behind the building and began firing at the enemies who were starting to look like The Kings, all jeans and leather jackets. Connor used his cover and tactically moved fast across the street, even firing himself while he was moving before he span into the alleyway out of the crossfire with Shaun.

"Alright! Move!" Connor's instincts were coming back, and he was scared that he was starting to feel almost at home in this life or death trap.

Kirkbride and Morse began to make their way around the alleyway, moving past other destroyed cars and trash dumps until they saw another two figures come around the corner.

"Move! Get down!" Shaun yelled at Connor before shoulder barging him to the ground.

Shaun dived behind a dumpster while Connor found himself behind another car. Connor waited to hear gunfire but what he heard was _not_ gunfire. What _was_ heard however was quite familiar to Shaun. They both saw green beams going past their covers, they knew instantly. Plasma weapons. Fear was overwhelming to Connor. He'd never faced an enemy using such weaponry. Shaun however, felt like he was back in the capital. Knowing by heart the charge time needed to fire another beam, he watched another fly overhead before jumping out of cover and firing at the shooters, clocking one right in the chest. They seemed to die instantly. IN the middle of this Shaun slid into the same cover as Connor.

"They have about three seconds between each beam, you hit them in that time! Be quick or you're gonna be a pile of goo on the floor!" Shaun sternly shouted to Connor.

Connor looked at him whilst reloading his 9mm. This was his last magazine. He waited while watching the green beams going past them, lighting up the alley more with it being shaded from the sun. Finally he watched one more beam blast over in the air above, then with as much speed as he possibly had in himself, Connor rolled out of cover and onto his stomach. Stretched across the ground he fired three bullets at the plasma shooter and each bullet hit. Stomach, shoulder and head, the shooter fell flat down. Connor relaxed for a moment, his forehead resting on the cold but warm cracked pavement and his pistols muzzle scraping that same ground as he controlled his breath, catching some dust in his mouth in doing so.

Meanwhile, back in the street behind the car, Brendan hadn't heard that many bullets hitting the car since Connor and Shaun left to flank, and it was making him feel more edgy than safe. He looked from underneath the car at the street and found the two shooters with combat rifles, definitely Kings, approaching closer to the car, separated by only a meter or two between them now knowing that him and Len were the only ones left behind it. Brendan began to think quick, sweat running down his entire face. If he tried to shoot one of them, he would get tore down by the other instantly, and he wasn't as fast a shooter as Connor, so he had no way to think straight. An idea lit in his head, and he quickly drew out his machete, now waiting for the first King to appear. The former crimson watched through the bottom of the car and finally, when he saw one King literally around the corner, a foot away from him, Brendan swung the machete at his enemy's feet, spraying his own face with blood but almost severing one of this man's feet. Screaming in agony the King dropped his rifle and fell onto his face to the right of Brendan who still sat, his back to the car door. Sawyer aimed the 44. And shot the man in the head. One down, one to go. Having saw his friend just suddenly get dealt with, the other King retreated a few feet and stopped behind the bus. Back in the alleyway, Shaun and Connor ran and made their way through, avoiding the obstacles in his way until again they were met by two more plasma shooters. While these two enemies were still running, Connor got a lucky shot in and hit one man right in the knee. Shaun watched as the injured shooter actually managed to limp away around a different corner and into an abandoned building, leaving a trail of blood from his wound. Green beams then again came flying by his and the former NCR medic, but as it was two on one, the second they had the time opening between blasts, Connor and Shaun shot the man down, filling him with many bullets as he fell backwards onto his spine. Connor then began to sprint down to the end of the alleyway and around the corner again with Shaun behind him. Connor was coming up onto the entrance to the School of Impersonation, the exact position he wanted to be in to flank the two remaining shooters on the street. He approached slowly, 9mm pointed in front of himself, as he made his way back onto the street, now the Impersonation School directly to his right, he could see no more shooters there, or plasma blasters either. He knew now from seeing the 'Silver Rush' sign over the road from him, the plasma shooters were Van Graffs. But before Connor could question in this in his head or question anything, he still had to finish off the two shooters left, but couldn't see two. Brendan was still breathing heavily behind cover. Not thinking his 44. Magnum would help him from a distance, he reached over to one of the dead NCR troopers' bodies and tried to pluck the service rifle from their stiff hands. Brendan pulled and pulled until the gun finally released and he loaded it. This former legionary didn't realize right now that the final remaining King was now closely approaching the car from behind. Being too busy loading the rifle and turning off the safety, he didn't see that the last guy could now directly see him on the floor with his back turned to him. Slowly and surely, this King aimed his combat rifle at Sawyer.

"HEY!" This King heard a shout from down the street.

Connor had his pistol aimed directly at the King from a good twenty yards away as the final enemy quickly span around to see him. No more words or orders, Connor pulled his trigger and with one bullet, blew a full piece of the man's head right off. Like another sack of shit, this man hit the deck, completely dead as did the small and large bits of his skill and brain. Brendan had realized by now that he had narrowly and only just had his life saved. Connor and Shaun then let out a large breathe that had been straining and holding since the first bullet fired in the street minutes earlier. Both of them ran back over to the area around the car and bus, seeing the three dead bodies of the enemies around them and the innocent civilians and NCR soldiers. Brendan finally after what seemed like a lifetime, climbed to his feet, feeling his knees and legs ache as he did. Connor and Shaun were both relieved Brendan was still with them, as was Len. No words did the three men have for each other, they just looked at each other, breathing heavily from seeing the chaos of what had happened around them. Bullet holes, cartridges everywhere, the smoke from the vehicles, blood mixing with the dust on the ground they stood on. Brendan looked back, Len _was_ alive but still unconscious. Connor grabbed and pulled back his own black hair in anguish and stress, he was shaking and trembling, despite the boiling weather he felt freezing cold. Being back in combat had left him physically ill and shaken. Shaun, the man with hardly any emotion was left wide eyed, but still a lot calmer than his two friends. The brother of steel had never been in a situation so close and so narrow, even in the capital he had seen no such combat on this scale. Brendan looked at the dead NCR soldiers, he looked to the dead enemies, and finally he saw the dead civilians as he slowly walked around the car and into the same large triangle formed by the trio. Suddenly the former legionary saw a dead civilian only meters from where Connor was standing and pointed with his right while grasping his mouth with his left. Connor and Shaun saw this and turned to the body he was pointing at, and both knew instantly what he looked so sick about. Connor, the soldier of the three, ran over sharply to the body to make sure and he knew right away. During the firefight none of them could've been entirely sure but now they were. The former NCR medic felt tears fill his eyes, his nose block up and the lump in his throat. Brendan turned away and squatted to vomit onto the floor. Shaun dropped his 10mm pistol without even moving and then fell directly onto the floor upright while he watched Connor inspect. Shaun's head collapsed into his own palms in guilt and began to breathe heavily.

"Christ…" Connor whispered to himself, wiping a tear before it could run his entire cheek.

Brendan spat out the last drop of vomit.

"Fuck… fuck… shit…" He quickly muttered away.

Shaun was more silent then he had ever been before.

All three men were in complete desolation and overcome with the trauma of these events that had just taken the life of a small innocent child.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

 **06:28PM, THURSDAY MAY 15TH, 2282, CAMP MCCARRAN**

Horror. Unbearable images of the aftermath of the firefight in Freeside would not leave any of the trio's heads. NCR troopers, Kings, Van Graffs and the dead child, they were stuck in each man's minds and would not leave. All three of them had joined Shaun in very constant silence, nobody had anything to say, all they had was questions and thoughts in their heads. Nobody could have expected what went down, and none of them could've even imagine they would have gotten out of that live. Hours had went by and they were finally at the gates of McCarran again. Huge tall solid wood gates, they looked even bigger every time they were seen. Once they had opened, all three of them stormed into the base, throwing Len to the ground as they did. This Omerta hostage was too tired and in too much pain to even attempt an escape, he moaned in exhaustion as he hid the ground and closed his eyes as if he was going to sleep. The same could not be said for Connor, Brendan or Shaun.

"One more stop from you, and I'll break your damn legs so you can stay there." Brendan picked him up.

All men walked on until they were stopped by a familiar NCR soldier.

"Hsu's been waiting for you all." There was Carrie Boyd to greet them.

"Oh yeah? That ain't anywhere near as much as I've been waiting to see him." Connor snapped back at the Lieutenant.

Boyd began walking with the three men and the captured Omerta.

"After we heard what happened in Freeside. We're surprised you're even fucking alive." Boyd told them. The NCR had already been told of the firefight in Freeside. To be honest, how could anyone not?

"So are we. Now, could you take us to Hsu?" Connor asked.

"Sure, I'll lead you right to him." Boyd told her former friend.

As they walked towards the main building, with Brendan, Shaun and Len behind, Connor and Boyd talked like they hadn't in a while.

"So, that the guy that spoke to Hanlon?" Boyd wondered.

"We think so. He's an Omerta." Replied the former medic, maintaining no eye contact.

"He looks like he's almost fucking blind." Boyd looked back.

"Yeah well, he's had two broken noses recently and a battered face after kneeing Sawyer between the legs in Freeside. I doubt he'll see clearly for a while yet." Connor remarked. Len was indeed almost completely blinded as Brendan had almost completely torn his face apart.

"So. What happened in Freeside?" Boyd was curious, she and the rest of McCarran were wondering how the hell that went down.

Connor growled. "I'm saying nothing about it until I see Hsu."

"But you killed everyone there?" Boyd looked at the man she still saw as a friend, even if he denied that.

"We didn't kill everyone there. Any innocents, they weren't us." Connor was getting angered by thinking about it. "But not all those motherfuckers died, I'm sure one got away."

Boyd listened closely to his story before seeing the other NCR troopers at the main doors of the building.

"Alright, these get taken straight to Hsu." Carrie told the two of them.

Before the NCR soldiers could even open the door and guide them in, Connor had stormed passed them and entered the door on his own, slamming it open. Shaun, sharing the frustration as Kirkbride, followed through the doors with him, the soldiers now feeling useless. Brendan wanted to see what was about to go down, so he finally had enough of holding Len on his feet.

"Take this filth." Brendan told the soldiers as he pushed Len into their arms.

Brendan began walking into the building.

"You're the filth, Legionary." Said one soldier.

Sawyer stopped mid walk and took a slow and long look at this soldier. One could say the soldier got intimidated from this look. Brendan simply smiled and kept going.

Hsu stood in the main hall at the top of the escalators awaiting his three 'men' to find out about what they have and what the hell had happened in Freeside. The good hearted Colonel was stood right at the top as he saw Kirkbride, Morse and Sawyer walking up the escalators. Kirkbride and Morse were walking a lot faster and intense than Sawyer was. Hsu spread his arms.

"You wanna tell just exactly what's been going on?!" Hsu raised his voice.

Connor did not reply as he stormed right up to his former Colonel.

 **WHAM!** Connor laid a punch on Hsu's face and knocked him to the floor. Connor then attempted to keep laying into him.

"HEY!" A soldier next to Hsu reacted and grabbed Connor by the back of his T shirt.

Shaun wouldn't have this, and tackled the soldier to the ground, disarmed his rifle and knocked him out with a boot to the face.

Brendan had to step in before his two friends did something they truly would regret.

"Fucking hell! Back off, come on!" yelled the former Legionary.

Brendan pushed Shaun with one hand away from the soldier who was now out cold and grabbed Connor's shoulder. Once his hand had landed on Kirkbride's shoulder the former NCR soldier stopped what he was doing, froze in position with his fist and arm retracted ready for another hit.

"You wanna stop this… right now." Sawyer told him straight, leaning down to talk straight in the ear.

Connor listened, looked down at a surprised and angry Colonel Hsu and finally released him. Hsu's jacket had a very sharp crease in it from Connor's furious grasp. Hsu, quite actually understanding of Connor's anger, only shoved him off and stood up and brushed himself down. Connor and Hsu stood face to face for a moment, while the Colonel wiped blood from his mouth. Wanting a little payback, Hsu gave Connor a blow to the gut with his own fist, a much stronger fist, as a Colonel would always be tougher than the soldier. Connor groaned loudly clutched his stomach and coughed as he fell onto his ass.

"Okay… I had that coming." Connor accepted.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?! What the hell did I do?! I'm waiting on you three to get me some goddamn information. I told you all to radio me, you've been dark for fucking days!" Hsu yelled, echoing throughout the entire building.

Neither man replied, they all stood silent. Shaun would not open his mouth to admit he destroyed the radio literally minutes after it was given to them.

"Nothing to say huh? I've heard you got a lead with an Omerta. That's, good, but Freeside?!" Hsu had undoubtedly heard the news, and that innocents were killed in the crossfire.

"Who told them we were coming?" Connor said, from the floor, his face looking down breathing hard.

Hsu looked sharply.

"What?" He asked.

Connor's face turned up to face him. "We got the Omerta, and nobody knew but us. We get into Freeside, there's NCR troops waiting to escort us, and then fucking Kings and Van Graffs are there to take us out! Other than us only you could've known we were going through Freeside with our only lead…" Connor was blatantly accusing the Colonel of being in on this entire thing.

Hsu understood just what Connor was saying, but it wasn't true.

"You're saying we told the Van Graffs and the Kings? Are you kidding me? Those two fucking factions are almost remnants now after both parties lost their leader. We've never had contact with them and we don't now." Hsu explained to his former soldier.

Connor wouldn't believe it.

"Someone… tipped them off. If it wasn't you or anyone else here _really_ with the NCR, then you've got a goddamn leak, and someone here is in on this whole thing, because let me tell you, there was some shady shit going down in those slums, watching us, and that's before it was the scene of a fucking firefight." Kirkbride finally stood back up, still one hand on his stomach.

"I'll tell you straight. We broke that radio as soon as you let us out of those gates. Reasons? I don't know maybe we were just pissed at the predicament you've put us in, but the fact remains, we couldn't contact you or anyone else here. Someone here, is a part of this. In this with whoever the fuck started it." Connor walked slowly closer to Hsu pointing his finger.

Hsu was silent, and he turned his head to look behind the three men.

"The men have done their job. They got us a lead." Hsu told three soldiers that had just appeared at the top of the escalator.

Connor, Brendan and Shaun looked behind and realized what was happening.

"What is this?" Connor directed at Hsu.

"You helped us. I gave you the chance of proving yourselves, and you have. But now you come back here, accusing us? We killed our own Chief? Kidnapped our own General?" Hsu was disgusted at Connor's accusations.

Connor come to a realisation. Maybe Hsu was telling the truth, maybe he had no part in this, but someone here definitely had, if not the NCR, then someone very close to them.

"Move these men back into the cells, I'll visit them tomorrow." Hsu ordered his soldiers.

The trio were nudged forward by the muzzles of the soldiers' rifles.

"Alright, move." One soldier grunted.

Connor stared at Hsu as he began moving. Shaun was silent and looked at Hsu and the soldiers. If looks could kill, he'd have slaughtered them all. Before Brendan lost the chance, he stepped forward, closer to Hsu.

"Listen, I don't think you _do_ have any play in this whole thing. I got my own theories. Can we talk?" Brendan never thought he'd ever ask to personally speak with anyone from the Republic.

Hsu lowered his eyebrows and put a hand on Brendan's shoulder.

"This one's with me. Those two… cells" The Colonel ordered once again. "Then get the Omerta in the interrogation room!"

His soldiers nodded.

Hsu then began walking towards his office, and Brendan followed after a short pause.

Hsu slammed shut his door and gestured Brendan to the seat across from his own. Sawyer sat down slowly and looked at the room and finally at Hsu across from him. The Colonel had by now pulled out a bottle of scotch from his draw and began pouring a glass.

"I don't really like sitting in the room with you. And you know that, but I am willing, right now, to hear anything." Hsu told him.

"Connor's just angry, not thinking straight. Freeside was a fucking death trap. Jesus… a fucking kid got killed, you know that? A _KID_. I don't care where you and I both come from in the past, but I know for sure, the _real_ NCR soldiers, and I know the Legion too, neither would want that shit to happen. Dead children... fuck that." Brendan slowly spoke.

"It was not us. It was _not_ me." Hsu desperately tried to explain.

Brendan leaned further forward.

"I do not think it was. But Connor's right, it had to be someone here, someone close to the NCR. You may have a fucking traitor here and you just don't know it." Brendan began to whisper.

Hsu let out a big long sigh, closed his eyes and thought deeply before gulping his scotch.

"Damn. What's the story with the Omerta?" Hsu asked.

"We went undercover in Gomorrah to get him out. I had ties with them, back when I was Legion. He's the man that spoke to Hanlon a week before he was killed. We need to know what he spoke to him about... and who ordered him there." Brendan replied.

Hsu nodded.

"Alright good. We'll squeeze that out of him, if he's all we got." Hsu leaned back, now more relaxed. "And if whoever ordered him was from _here_ , we'll know."

Brendan's eyes moved away.

"He's not all we got." He told Hsu, who looked back. "Connor, Shaun… on the way back here they told me that one Van Graff got away, injured in the fight." Brendan revealed.

"So? Where is he?" Hsu asked.

"Apparently he fled into an abandoned building. He could've bled out by now, but from what I hear the Van Graffs aren't stupid. And if there's any chance he could be alive, I might get more out of him while you interrogate the Omerta." Brendan told Hsu, a plan hatching.

"You radio me when you have something." Hsu ordered.

"I will do, but you be in the cells with Connor and Shaun when I do." Brendan wanted a deal.

"Alright sure. You gotta take this chance then. I wanna know everything possible." Hsu told Brendan. A smear of trust forming?

Brendan nodded and stood up off the chair and walked to the door.

"You want anyone to go with you?" Hsu asked.

Brendan thought about it. He would take his friends, but neither of them were in the right frame of mind. He wasn't smug or arrogant, but Brendan knew he was calmer and more focused right now then Connor and Shaun were, so he refused.

"Nah, keep those two in there, they'll calm down. They mean well, trust me. I'll go alone, I'm better that way. I'll take ammo for my repeater and I'll head back." Brendan told Hsu.

Hsu looked straight at him, he respected this man, a former Legionary, actually redeeming himself, if you were a person who believed he _had_ to redeem himself. Brendan opened the door.

"Can I say one more thing?" Hsu stopped him.

The former legionary turned back.

"I'm sorry. I wanna thank you for what you've done. Kirkbride and the Brother of Steel too. You managed to get this Omerta for us… I respect that, and I appreciate it. Thank you, the NCR will remember you for it." Hsu formed a slight smile of respect.

Brendan had never been given such praise and gratitude for as long as he could remember. He was thankful too, but facts never change sometimes. He smiled back at Hsu before leaving.

"Well… thanks for that… but I didn't do this for you. Or the NCR." Brendan whispered loud enough for the Colonel to hear.

Sawyer gently closed the door on his way out.

Brendan couldn't leave without visiting the two men he had formed a close bond with now, so he headed to the cells. Connor had his head resting on the bars with his hands and forearms wrapped around them. Shaun was back sitting on the floor with his knees up against his chest, in the same position he sat for eight months. When both men saw Brendan, their heads lifted.

"Okay, listen to me." Brendan began. "I'm heading back to Freeside."

Connor let go of the bars he was holding.

"You're fucking what?" Said the ex-medic, "You looking for trouble?"

Shaun then stood up off of the floor.

"Why?" Shaun simply asked.

"Because you said that one Van Graff got away, injured. I wanna go and speak to him, if he's alive, and find out just who tipped them off about us coming through Freeside. That means we'll get even more information, not just what the Omerta has to say."

Connor leaned against the bars, directly opposite the ex-legionary.

"He'll be dead by now, you don't do that. That's fucking risky." Kirkbride said.

"Look, I don't care how risky it is, I want to know just who caused what happened, and for that child to die. I will not let those bastards get away with this." Brendan told his friend. "It was not the NCR here… at least not Hsu. I know when people are lying and he is not lying. But if anyone from the Republic has something to do with all of this, I want to know."

Connor looked down, shaking his head sharply, worrying.

"Well… then we're going with you, surely?" He asked.

"No, I wanna do this alone. Plus after you're little scenes up there, I doubt Hsu will allow you out for a good few hours." Sawyer was right, Connor and Shaun had to calm down for a while.

"You're putting yourself in danger here." Shaun said calmly from across the cell.

"I know, but trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'll be radioing Hsu once I have what I need, and I'll make sure he has you both on the other end when I do." Brendan promised.

Connor was quiet, he wanted to say something, to protest, but he knew it'd be useless, but he also knew how good Brendan was at things like this. The Gomorrah mission would never be forgotten. The former Medic reached his hand through the bars to Brendan who then took it and shook it, as a friend.

"You be careful, and hurry your ass back." Connor ordered.

"I'll be bringing back the truth." Brendan swore.

Shaun walked over and repeated the process Connor had, shaking Sawyer's hand and patting his shoulder with the other. After this, Brendan headed out and to the armoury. Picking up a full box of Repeater ammo, a flashlight which he taped to the muzzle of his repeater, the NCR radio direct to Colonel Hsu and spending a few minutes to sharpen his machete was the only preparation he took before heading to the front doors of the building. NCR troopers around every tent in the base grounds watched him as he walked down and past.

"Out." Said the guard at the large gates.

Brendan just smiled and nodded, before putting back on his Vexillarius helmet and heading back to New Vegas. About an hour and a half later, the sky was black, apart from the stars, moon and the enormous light called the Lucky 38. The loud murmur and rumbling of the people at the strip could be heard from anywhere in the Mojave, but here it was even louder. Brendan found himself at the North Gate to Freeside before slowly and stealthy slipping through. If it wasn't for the Lucky 38, this place might not have even been visible at this time. Slowly but surely, he eased his way through the streets, a lot of the time, keeping his hand on the handle of his machete which he was faster and more skilled with than any gun. Poor old people watched him on the corners of streets, half in darkness. They were burnt from the sun, in ragged clothes and begging for caps, but Brendan ignored them all, hardly even heard them he was that focused. Even if all of the Kings had been killed, along with most Van Graffs, whoever was behind all of this, they must've been expecting at least one of the trio to return, so he felt almost foolish for putting himself in such a situation, but he knew what he would be losing if he didn't. He saw no Kings or Van Graffs, or even the bodyguards that could be hired once you entered. At night, he didn't imagine this was unusual since Freeside looked like a ghost town even in the day, and especially more since the Battle at Hoover Dam, everyone had cleared out. Sawyer finally made it to the gates to the main street of Freeside, the same street he, Connor and Shaun had almost been killed hours before… the same street an innocent poor child of Freeside was killed. The thought now eating him away and making him furious. Brendan saw that the dead bodies of Kings and Van Graffs had not been moved since the firefight, they had just collected dust that had been blown by the wind. Brendan knew just the location of where this injured Van Graff had been shot, and it was down the alleyway that Connor and Shaun flanked from, so he headed there, down the opposite side that they had entered it from. Brendan walked slowly around the bodies, keeping low and ready for anything. A large trail of blood could be seen, beginning at a small puddle, still wet and gleaming dark red in the moonlight, this was surely the trail of the injury. Brendan equipped his Caravana Repeater and loaded the first bullet, with the rifle making a satisfying click, telling him the round was in place. Steadily and with his rifle pointed in front he followed the trail of blood which brought him to a large abandoned and hollow structure full of concrete and debris. He had to follow over obstacles which he was amazed the Van Graff had managed to get over. After a good ten minutes of vaulting over concrete slabs and crawling through openings, he found the exit which led to another Freeside alley way, this one being much more closed in and dark. He could've sworn he had heard something behind him, but Freeside was always this earie, especially at night, so he checked and made sure nobody was around before proceeding. Out of the light, but still visible. At the end of this alley was a small building, which looked like an abandoned store. The trail had ended at the door, where another small puddle was. The Van Graff had clearly came into trouble getting inside… if he even was. Brendan saw that the door to the building wasn't fully closed so he aimed his rifle as he slowly pushed the door open. He couldn't really make out the interior so he turned on the flashlight attached to his rifles barrel. Inside he saw more blood, and he followed that trail, all the while looking over his shoulder in case anyone was coming up on him from behind. Brendan followed the blood until it came to the very same Van Graff that Connor had shot in the knee hours before. He was sitting against the ruined wall, his head resting diagonally on another wall to his right. The knee shot had clearly made it incapable for him to move any longer. However, he was also holding a different wound, to the side of his stomach, which was clearly where all of the other blood had come from. He was breathing heavily but slowly, gasping for whatever air he could have. He was shaking ferociously, clearly dying. Brendan lowered his weapon and crouched to his level, keeping him in some light.

"Hey." Brendan whispered. The Van Graff was delirious, the loss of blood from two wounds causing him intense confusion.

"Hey!" Brendan slapped the man. Waking him up a little.

The near dead Van Graff opened his eyes slowly, it now being a struggle to do even that, and looked at the former Legionary.

"You were shot in the knee earlier today… how the hell did you get shot in the gut?" Brendan asked sharply and intensely, wanting an answer quick before this man was long from the world.

"Its… it was…" The Van Graffs voice was grouchy, a lot of phlegm and blood clogging up his throat.

Trying to talk made him cough painfully, blood spraying out of his mouth. Brendan had to avoid this.

"Come on, stay with me. Who shot you in the gut?" Sawyer repeated.

"Free…side" The man uttered.

"Freeside?" Brendan replied, wondering why he said it. "Who was it? Who told you and the Kings we were coming?"

The man moved his head up to Brendan's direction and squinted.

"You… It's one of you…" He said. "Didn't think you would make it."

"I can get you medical attention, just tell me who told you to take us out in Freeside." Brendan demanded.

"Ha… I'm fucked man… you can do nothing for me." He chuckled and snarled.

"Then at least, for once in your goddamn life, do something good. Do this for me and tell me who it was." Brendan was getting desperate and angry.

Van Graffs usually would never crack, but here, the man was dying, and in pain, maybe this was their breaking point.

"It was them… one of them…" He said.

Finally getting somewhere.

"Who? Come on man! Who?" Brendan was getting closer.

"They offered us… the kings… us… guns and caps." He revealed.

"I don't care, just give me a name." Brendan was saying quietly.

"The woman…" The Van Graff whispered.

"Woman? Which woman?" Brendan needed to know, or this would only narrow it down to half the world's population.

"The woman… the girl… NCR." He had finally revealed.

Brendan's eyes widened as his eyebrows lowered. His mouth slightly wide. _It was NCR?_ He was thinking. He had to get the full name.

"Which woman? Come on!" Brendan was shaking the man by his shoulders.

Too late, the man coughed one last time as he grabbed Brendan's arms with his own and let out a long breath which screeched to a quiet halt. His arms let completely go of Brendan and his limbs landed to the ground beside him with a thud as his head and neck stopped trying and lowered down.

"Fuck! No! Come on! COME ON!" Brendan was shaking him so hard now the dead man's head was hitting off the wall.

"God! Fucking damn it!" Brendan stood up and threw his rifle across the room, shattering the flashlight attached to it. Things inside the store, old things on shelves smashed and made a noise that would be heard by anyone if they were in the area. Now in the pitch darkness of the store, with only the door letting moonlight inside, Brendan stood, his face gripped by his hands. He was straining in his head, grinding his teeth. Maybe they had in fact been set up all along? Or what if this 'woman' was just a simple traitor, deflecting from the Republic.

"Motherfucker…" Brendan whispered, displaying his anger.

Meanwhile, back at McCarran, Hsu was sitting in his office, looking over some papers when he heard his radio begin with static. Hsu looked and sharply leaned over and grabbed his radio.

"Hello? Sawyer? That you?" He kept asking.

" _Yeah it's me_." Brendan grunted.

"What do you have? Tell me something?" Hsu wanted to know.

"As we agreed, I want you in the room with Connor and Shaun." He demanded of the Colonel.

Hsu closed his eyes and sighed, but it was the agreement so he did as the deal was agreed. Hsu rushed out of his office and down the hallway, almost sprinting and entered the cells. Inside Connor and Shaun were both sitting when he burst into the room.

"Alright! Alright they're here!" Hsu loudly said down the radio.

Connor stood up and Shaun stayed sitting.

" _Talk Connor, Shaun, one of you say something."_ Brendan's muffled voice commanded.

"I'm here Brendan." Connor yelled.

Back in Freeside, Brendan started leaving the store as he spoke over the radio.

"I managed to find the Van Graff, but he'd been shot in the stomach by someone else." He revealed.

" _Huh? I hit him in the leg."_ Connor said.

"I know, but he never told me how he got a gut shot. But he did almost tell me who tipped him and the Kings off to our walk through Freeside." Brendan revealed.

In the cells, Connor was wide eyed, as was Hsu, Shaun was still sitting, listening closely.

"Alright… who?" Connor calmly prepared himself.

" _He said it was the NCR…"_ Brendan revealed much to Hsu's horror.

"Can't be true! It wasn't us!" Hsu shouted.

Brendan was now outside of the store and walking back down the street towards the building full of debris.

"I know Hsu I know. He said it was just a _woman_." Brendan revealed to the Colonel.

" _A woman?"_ Brendan heard Hsu ask.

" _Her name?"_ Connor joined.

"The guy died before he could tell me. That's all I got." Brendan told them straight, heading back. "A _woman._ _A woman, from the NCR"_ Brendan said with his attention suddenly being taken by something in front.

 **BANG!** A gunshot was fired. In the cells, Connor, Hsu and Shaun all heard it.

"Brendan?! BRENDAN!" Connor shouted.

Shaun stood up as fast as he had been seen to move.

Brendan felt this bullet hit him straight in the chest. The former legionary gasped and grunted in pain as it hit him. Clutching the wound to the slight right of his chest, he dropped the radio on the ground. He strained his face and then relaxed it, looking in front of him. Directly a few yards away from him, he saw a woman. Brendan's vision was blurry now, and the darkness didn't help as he fell to his knees and then onto the same chest he had been shot. Breathing heavily for air, sucking up dust with every inhale. He moved his head to see the feet of this woman walking closer to him. Sawyer then reached for the radio, only to see it smashed.

"What… No… no… fuck no…" Brendan was in pain, running out of air, he was panicking, saying his words at lightning speed. Once the woman was standing directly over him, he managed to look up and see her entire face. It was indeed a _woman from the NCR._

 _"…_ _Boyd…"_ He grunted, angry as he had ever been.

 **BANG!** Another bullet was fired from her service rifle, in his lower back, putting him to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

 **08:56PM, THURSDAY MAY 15** **TH** **, 2282, CAMP MCCARRAN**

It echoed through the cells, rooms and halls of the entire building. One gunshot, and the radio went completely silent and nothing was heard from it again. Connor was stood, so eager to get out of the cell at this point, and so angered but confused he could probably pull the bars apart. Shaun was silent as usual but you could see the fury in his eyes as they went from Hsu's radio in his hand to Hsu himself.

Shaun growled. " _NCR?_ "

Hsu looked at the two men. Connor was glaring at the Colonel also, and Hsu could feel the blame being poured onto him.

"Hey… he just said himself he knew it wasn't me." Hsu started explaining.

"Let me out of here." Connor said calmly.

"Now I know your tone there, you gonna attack me again?" Hsu asked.

Connor listened, but didn't respond. He looked away at Shaun.

"How can we trust what you're saying?" The Brother of Steel asked.

"For fuck sake! I know nothing about any tippers or backstabbers! I'm as innocent as you three are in all of this." The Colonel was desperate to persuade them, he was innocent but they would not have it.

"Might only be two of us now…" Shaun whispered, the hard truth coming out.

Connor snapped and turned.

"Shut the fuck up! We don't know what just happened!" The former NCR medic was furious not knowing whether their friend had just met his end.

Shaun turned and walked slowly to Connor, the former very calm, the latter fucking pissed.

"We need to go find out." Shaun told Connor, if Brendan had been killed, they wanted payback.

Kirkbride was in deep thought for a few seconds and did not reply, he just turned straight to Hsu.

"Get me Carrie Boyd." He told his former Colonel.

Hsu's eyebrows lowered.

"Why Lieutenant Boyd?" Hsu asked in confusion.

"Just get me her!" Connor then yelled.

Hsu listened and looked into the eyes of his former soldier, and he saw that this man was different to the coward he once knew. Connor was ready to tear the place apart, and with the help of his tough as nails Brotherhood of Steel friend, he could probably do just that. Hsu slightly nodded and left the room, leaving the radio on the bench inside the room.

A good thirty minutes passed and both Connor and Shaun stayed in the cell, desperate to get out and head to Freeside. Nothing had been heard on the radio since the gunshot. Connor paced around the entire cell. Its walls closed in further and further the more stressed he became. Was he dead? Had he been injured? Or was he in another firefight, this time alone? The same questions kept running through both men's heads, and each time putting more and more pressure on their minds.

"We have to starting thinking that if he really is-"

"Shaun! Shut up!" Connor cut his friend off, he wouldn't believe it.

"Stop just saying that, if he really is dead, we have to find out who it was!" Shaun yelled back.

Connor stopped, and leaned his forehead against the cell bars and let out a long sigh.

"A woman from the NCR, those were his last words." Connor said.

Shaun put things together in his head quite quickly suddenly.

"You're thinking something." He said.

Connor raised his head from the bars and closed his eyes. He didn't want it to be true but he had a pretty good hunch now.

"Yeah, I am." Connor told his friend. "I think it's her."

Before Connor could continue, they both heard the doors to the building slam and echo through the halls and then the sound of boots getting closer and closer to the room they were in. Both Connor and Shaun now headed to the cell door, assuming they were now close to finally being released.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hsu appeared and entered the room again. He looked at the two men in the cell and they stared back.

"Boyd's gone. Nobody's seen or heard from her for a while now." Hsu was confused.

Connor then had his suspicions but he didn't elaborate on them. If he so much as connected Boyd's name to what had happened that day, Hsu would not believe it, and maybe even keep them in the cell for as long as he could think. Minutes went by that seemed like hours, Connor paced around the cell, breathing heavily and panicking about his friend in Freeside and what his situation was. Shaun sat still, watching Connor while Hsu sat on a wooden bench outside the cell in the same room. What could they do? What would make Hsu let them out?

Connor finally stopped, one hand on the bars. The former NCR medic turned to his former Colonel.

"You still have the Omerta?" He asked.

Hsu was so focused on the thoughts going through his head he got startled by Connor's voice.

"Uh, um, yeah of course. He's in the interrogation room." Hsu replied.

"Who's interrogating him?" Shaun then stood up.

"Nobody right now. Boyd usually runs that room but she's obviously gone somewhere." Hsu told the Brother of Steel.

Connor gritted his teeth. He knew somewhere deep down that she hadn't just 'gone somewhere', but he couldn't know if his gut was telling him the truth.

"I'll give this guy a try. He's already had a bad beating from Brendan I doubt it'll take much for him to break." Connor told Hsu. Connor then walked towards the cell door.

Shaun, the man who had stayed well back and quiet up until that point, stepped in front of Connor.

"No. Let me take this guy. I can do it, I promise. He's been roughed up by a man who was just taking him _here_. Brendan never asked him questions about all of this, so if I can rough him up just a little bit further, while asking him questions, I think he'll break." Shaun told Connor, very sternly.

Connor let out another long breathe, his heart pounding its way out of his chest, anger really starting to burn. But he respected the man before him. NCR and the Brotherhood were meant to despise each other, but after everything they'd been through, Shaun and Connor were friends deep down, even if neither cared or wanted to admit it. Connor looked at Hsu, who seemed to be on Shaun's side here. Morse and Hsu did not want Connor getting time alone with Len the Omerta. With the rage building inside Connor after everything that had happened, he may end up killing the man. Which would leave them at the deadest of dead ends.

"Okay. I'll just wait outside the room." Connor agreed.

Shaun nodded once to Connor and then to the Colonel.

Hsu nodded to them both and then stood up while his ring of keys rattled. Throughout the building the echoes of the cell unlocking were heard. Connor and Shaun finally stepped out of the cell and even though they were in the same building, the air felt cooler and fresher just being outside of the four barred walls. Silence and intensity overcame both Connor and Shaun as they followed Colonel Hsu closely all the way to the top of the escalators and across the top floor to the Interrogation room in the North-West corner of the building. Hsu saw both soldiers guarding the room.

"Leave us." Hsu ordered.

Both soldiers nodded and left the vicinity of the interrogation room. They probably didn't want to witness or even hear what was about to go down inside behind the glass. Shaun entered the room after Hsu and Connor and could see Len the Omerta beyond the glass sitting in a wooden chair. As blue as the sky his face was bruised and swollen from the beating he had taken from Brendan Sawyer. Only difference being now is that Len was fully awake, whereas earlier today he had been barely conscious after being dragged from New Vegas to McCarran and the blows to the head and gut that he had taken. Shaun was now in the zone, and again very quiet, but this is the first time maybe that he had been silent but with a purpose. Connor was right up against the glass, furiously staring at this man who knew something that they needed. Maybe he could help them find out who the _woman from the NCR_ Brendan mentioned twice really was and if it really _was_ the woman Connor believed it to be.

"Are you sure? Because I'll happily take this guy." Connor told Shaun without his eyes ever leaving Len beyond the glass.

Shaun then turned around.

"No. He's mine." Shaun told him, quiet and calm.

The Brotherhood of Steel member turned to a small chest in the corner of the room and walked over to it. Opening it he found a chest full of tools, weapons and tools that could be used _as_ weapons. Shaun searched through the box before finding just a simple tire iron that he thought was perfect for what he was about to do.

"Shaun, you can't go too far in there." Hsu was almost ordering him.

Shaun turned his head to Hsu very sharply and gave him a look of death.

"You let _me_ do this. I do this _my way._ " Shaun sternly told the Colonel.

Hsu just accepted that Shaun knew what he was doing, and he was practically intimidated by this intense man who he had imprisoned for eight months. Shaun then looked to Connor who just gave him a nod of approval. Morse then opened the door of the interrogation room and walked in as the door then shut behind him. Len was sitting in his chair very calmly and almost looking arrogant. Pathetic due to the fact now that Brendan had gone, he seemed a lot more confident about himself. He then watched as Shaun slowly walked into the room wielding a deadly looking tire iron. Len looked at this tool in his hand.

"Pfft, that a tire iron?" Len chuckled, trying to prove himself to the dangerous man before him.

Shaun didn't reply, he just slowly walked closer to the Omerta.

"What you gonna do with that? Fix my fucking wheels? Ha, on what fucking car?" Len was getting irritatingly sarcastic.

Shaun then stood still and stared the Omerta out and kept gripping tighter of his tire iron.

"I'm here to help you. I'm here to try and help you keep your face from getting anymore fucked up." Shaun said calmly.

Len formed a light smirk as he leaned back.

"I don't really know what you're about to start talking to me about, I pretty much fully cooperated with the other guy, the Legionary when he had me in his grasp." Len replied.

Shaun then leaned forward to this Omerta and only growled.

"Well maybe that's on him… Not asking the right questions…"

With the force of a shotgun blast and the speed of a Fat Man missile, Shaun had landed a hit with the tire iron on Len's face, cracking the skin and fracturing the Omerta's cheekbone causing blood to splat off of his face and start running down it. Again. Len grunted loudly in pain and touched the wound with his hands so much he didn't see the second blow coming. Shaun blasted the other side of his face with the second swing of the tire iron. Len now had been hit so hard from the right side of his face he was leaning over the left wooden arm of the chair. Blood dripping from both his open facial wounds now forming a small puddle on the floor next to the chair. Outside of the room, Hsu was getting extremely concerned.

"He's going too far!" Hsu told Connor before almost heading to the door.

Connor grabbed his former Colonel by the arm.

"You are _not_ gonna stop this. Let him do it." Connor had now ordered the NCR Colonel.

Hsu just listened to his former soldier and then looked from him to the glass and what was happening beyond.

On the other side of the glass inside the room, Len was spitting out blood and holding the wound of his cracked cheekbone, the pain making it hard to even focus on anything. Shaun snapped him out of his painful stun by delivering a powerful slap across the left side of his temple. Len was getting incredibly scared of the man before him and what else he was going to do to him. After the slap, Len gave Shaun the look of a frightened animal and tried to back away from him even though he knew he was in a chair against the wall.

"Chief Hanlon, Camp Golf, you were sent there to talk to him, about maybe a certain topic?" Shaun began.

Len was facing down, his palm almost covering his entire face, getting covered in fresh blood. Losing the Omerta's attention, Shaun then kicked the chair legs below him, regaining the scared attention of the man in it.

"Talk…" Shaun whispered grimly.

Any harder of a kick would have broken the chair. Len looked up, his hands slightly spread out in front to keep Shaun back. Len began to answer, his words slurring and impeding due to the fresh and swollen wounds round his mouth.

"I just got told to talk to him, and understand everything he knew!" Len was talking loudly, he wanted Shaun to hear him.

Len started breathing heavily and fast, panicking. "That's it!"

Shaun didn't even have a moment of preparation, he just swung again and smashed the tire iron off of Len's right knee, causing him extreme pain. Len leant down screaming in agony to hold his knee, only causing Shaun's fast and second incoming blow to feel like it crushed his left shoulder. Len was now grunting and screaming but with his mouth and teeth gripped so tight it was like it'd been glued together. Shaun then pushed Len back to grasp a hold of his throat and throw his head back up against the wall, giving the Omerta no choice but to look Shaun straight in the eye from only inches.

"Tell me… what you wanted to know that _he_ knew about!" Shaun started to yell.

Len began to choke but thankfully after Shaun had asked his question, he let the Omerta go and he coughed while gasping for air. Lumps of blood mixed with saliva came flying out of his mouth during those coughs. Len began but struggled to form the words that followed.

"He… Knew about an activity, uh a plan that's been in the early stages _of_ planning for months now! That's what I was told!" Len yelled, the physical defence being shown with his arms and even his left leg. The one he could still move.

Shaun pointed to Len with the tire iron in his hand.

"Who ordered you to do this?" Shaun demanded, with a dark and very angered look on his face.

Len started shaking and trembling, the answer he would prefer not to give, it may just make this man actually beat him that last inch of his life. Len suddenly, shoving Shaun out of his way, launched out of the chair. Trying to escape, but what a futile effort it was. Len did not get far, he made it almost to the door, but the broken knee made sure his speed wasn't fast enough. Shaun, now even more pissed, grabbed the deformed Omerta by his white but very red stained shirt and pulled him back and threw him against the wall. Len's chest and face hit the wall so hard it left a large bloody face print. Dust, bits of rotten wood and plaster fell from the wall, while mixing with his wounds. Before Len could even process this he was grasped by Shaun again. With both hands, Shaun pulled the Omerta around while aiming for something. Shattering the large chunk of wood, Shaun threw Len on and through the wooden interrogation chair. Rattles and bangs of the wood and a man hitting the ground echoed not only through the interrogation room, it did the entire building.

Len was never gonna move like that again, hell he was close to being paralyzed for life. Injured and battered, the Omerta thug was now face down on the floor, a broken knee, fractured shoulder and completely beaten and torn up face he starting trying to catch his breath while also grunting and moaning in pain. These were not frightened breathes however, these were the gasps of a man finally starting to give up. Shaun stood over him, moving around.

"I tell you… The kinda day I've had, seeing you pop a good few more blood vessels is starting to make up for it!" Shaun stated. "Omerta motherfucker!"

Len didn't even respond, he just spat more drool and blood out and rolled onto his back and was able to face Shaun again, his left arm propping him up slightly. Shaun was breathing heavily and hard, out of breath from what he had done. He pointed the tire iron at the man he had almost killed in only a few minutes.

"You tell me who ordered you to do that, or I'm gonna give you another face lift…" Shaun sternly told Len with the anger obvious in his voice.

Len's face widened, even beyond the swollen cheeks and lips and even eyes you could see them widen.

"It was a woman, from this place. She was republic." Len echoed the words of the dying Van Graff in Freeside.

Outside of the room, Connor's eyes focused then from looking away from Shaun's violent actions and lengths to the Omerta on the ground. Hsu was now completely convinced, that was two people now on the other side of this entire ordeal that had said and spoke of a _woman from the NCR_. Connor was convinced already by the words spoken by his friend Brendan, whose condition and status they didn't know. All Connor, Shaun and even Hsu had to hear now was the name of the woman to find out the truth.

Shaun kept demanding answers. "Name. Tell me her name, why she chose you and what she wanted you to speak to Chief Hanlon about."

Len was beginning to calm now, having not been hit with any weapons or punches for a good few minutes now.

"She told me she'd supply the Omerta's with a good supply of weapons and caps, even more control on the Strip if I could see 'just how much Hanlon knows' she said. Van Graffs were involved, you know that. She told me that she had given them the opportunity to get full control in Freeside, the Graffs _and_ the Kings if they would contribute." Len confessed.

Shaun pointed the tire iron, still breathing heavy from the pain he had inflicted on the man before him. "What else."

Len gulped. "Nero and Sal never knew of the deal I made with her in secret… It was her that approached _me_. I had been missing for a good week at Gomorrah so they gave me a beating for not letting them know. I would've explained but I had to wait until this entire thing was over. I was gonna get some benefit for the Omerta's, and the Van Graffs and Kings were gonna get full control and support in Freeside. She told me all of that."

Shaun formed a small smile and then lowered slowly to a crouching position in front of Len.

"The Kings and The Van Graffs, they were under command of this woman, for Freeside control. That's why they were waiting to take us out. It was a spur of the moment order, but they did it _at her orders_. There were no specific plans or orders, they just had to help. Make sense." Shaun seemed to be speaking to himself, making _himself_ understand, but he was getting all the information for Connor and Hsu at the same time.

"What was it you had to find out of Hanlon? What was it she was worried he knew a lot about?" Shaun asked, now calm and almost friendly.

Len tried to talk but had to stop as something was moving in his mouth suddenly.

"He…" Len stopped and picked out a tooth from his mouth, and then proceeded to spit out another three. Blows from weapons and fists all day long had lost him a bunch of pearly whites, now pearly reds.

Len had his finger tips on the now empty gum holes while he spoke.

"He apparently not only found out about a certain disappearance of General Lee Oliver, he became suspicious about it. Hanlon found that Oliver vanished around the same time that a large amount of NCR funds did too. 40,000 caps gone, and then so was Oliver. Hanlon thought that was pretty fucking off, and the NCR woman wanted me to talk to him about this. Find out just how much he knew." Len revealed everything.

Shaun still had more he wanted. "What did he tell you?" He asked.

"He didn't tell me that much, not with me being an Omerta. But I asked him about General Lee Oliver, and Hanlon let loose he'd been on NCR computers and saw that the NCR were missing caps, and got suspicious that they went missing around the same time as Oliver. Hanlon, was not suspicious of Oliver's disappearance in a sympathetic way about his superior, but in a cynical way. He really believed that Oliver was not 'missing' and that he was doing something completely planned." Len told Shaun and the two men behind the glass.

Len revealed what nobody would have imagined. Hanlon was not worried at all about General Oliver, he was suspicious of his activities, he thought he was doing something secretive and against NCR principles. Maybe even be conspiring. Hanlon believed Oliver had disappeared _on purpose_.

Connor's eyebrows lowered slowly and intensely, this was a perspective neither him, Brendan or Shaun had ever looked at this entire situation from before. Like anyone else in the Mojave, they had assumed instantly that Oliver had been kidnapped, with malicious intent, never had they thought maybe Oliver had done this off of his own accord for reasons unknown. The trio had not been told about the missing 40,000 caps from NCR funds, which Connor picked up on instantly.

"You all lost that many caps, and you didn't tell us _that?_ " Connor scowled.

Hsu snapped out of his disbelief at the words coming Lens mouth to Connor.

"No, we knew about it, but we didn't make any connection there, we've been looking into that on our own. We didn't think, _I_ didn't think it had any relevance here." Hsu was insisting, almost desperate, but he was telling the truth.

Connor didn't think two ways, he believed his former boss, and nodded before looking back to beyond the glass. Len was still breathing fast and still terrified of Shaun, his left hand still propping him up while his right was trying to make Shaun stay away. Shaun looked at this man who he had physically and mentally shattered in only five minutes. Pity, sympathy, hate, a mixture of emotions is what Shaun not only _had_ himself but also what he felt for the Omerta. After finding out a lot that they needed, Shaun finally asked the question that also needed to be answered.

"So who really killed Hanlon? You?" He whispered.

Len had pink saliva now from the amount of blood loss from his mouth that covered his chin and even cheeks, he was answering everything he could now.

"No, that wasn't me. I took the info back to the woman and then I went back to Gomorrah, the rest is fucking history. My only guess is she asked someone else to." Len now wasn't even looking at Shaun, it seemed like _that_ question was something even the Omerta wondered about. Shaun wasn't even asking questions anymore, but Len kept talking.

"Hanlon seemed in a desperate situation, even with the man's reputation it looked like he was having a difficult time with whatever it was. But whatever it was, it gave the NCR woman a reason to give the Van Graffs, Kings and us a deal. A deal that… You might say that _highly benefited_ people like us." Len said in one long breath.

Wrong, what the man said was the wrong thing to Shaun because that last sentenced angered him more, something Len didn't want. A large and furious twist formed on the Brother of Steel's face and he stood back up to his feet. Len could see something was coming and started displaying his fear.

"No! Please!" Len tried to back away.

Shaun grabbed Len by his shirt with both hands and lifted him up off of the floor but not fully.

"Okay! I want her name!" Shaun shouted. "You tell me her name, or I swear to god, you will end your fucking vile existence in this room!"

Shaun then let go and dropped Len back to the ground, who then again stretched out his arms to stop Shaun.

"Boyd! It was Boyd! That's all I remember, first name I don't know!" Len revealed the ultimate truth Shaun and Connor were both waiting for and Hsu needed to hear.

Silence infected the area like a contagion. The intensity was overwhelming, as was the anger and fury building in Connor's stomach. The former medic's face began to go red, and redder and redder, the anger bubbling inside and he almost cried he was that angry. Hsu looked at Connor in shock, he knew nothing about this and nor did any other soldiers. Suddenly the Colonel got shoved to the floor by Connor who moved past him very fast and hard. Inside the room Shaun turned around to the glass and could then see himself on the mirror that side of the glass was. For just a moment that seemed like a long time Shaun saw himself, and behind was the man he had just completely tortured, but there wasn't time to even think about it. Shaun, now finished, headed to the door and left to speak to Connor, but he didn't find him. Hsu was getting up from the floor. He was took right aback by Connor, who had stormed away and now heading to exactly where they believed he was going. Freeside.

"Connor!" Shaun began but the Colonel stepped in.

"No, Shaun. You leave him, he's gone. He let _you_ handle that, so let _him_ handle her." Hsu told Shaun.

Only ten minutes later, Connor was approaching the gates to leave Camp McCarran, nothing else on his mind but two people: Brendan Sawyer and Carrie Boyd. Kirkbride had already went to the Armoury and taken back his 9mm pistol and was going back to Freeside. Journeying there he saw everything Brendan had saw on his way there at night. Stars glowing and shining in the sky, with the great enormous light that the Lucky 38 casino gave off as it towered over the entire wasteland, and the murmur and laughs of the people spending hard earned or easy earned caps on the strip. Connor did exactly the same as Brendan had did and headed to the same spot the shootout had occurred hours earlier and unknown to him, where Brendan had met a painful two bullets at the hands of the very woman he was after. Smart like he was, Connor found the same spot where he had injured one of the Van Graffs in the leg and followed the trail of blood where he had limped away. Connor knew, his soldier instincts kicking in. It was at this point as he began to follow the trail that he drew his 9mm and pointed it ahead, he felt something was coming, or something was waiting for him. Slowly and cautiously as Brendan, he made his way through the same building full of nothing but concrete and debrief, hearing noises coming from all around, Connor knew Boyd, the treacherous Lieutenant was either watching or she sure as fuck was here somewhere. Finally Connor could see the exit of this almost pitch black debrief filled building, where the moon light, star light and Lucky 38 light illuminated the abandoned street deep in Freeside. Before him the pistol moved, he got slower and slower with every step, this _had_ to be where Brendan was last heard… and he soon saw it was. Once Connor's eyes were in the small, narrow abandoned street, he saw the body of his friend only a good few yards from him.

"No." Connor refused outright.

Connor repeated the same word as he stormed over to the body of the man who had saved his life. Scowling hard and in a large amount of denial.

"No!" Connor began to shake and boil, even in the cold of the night he now felt like he was in the boiling and roasting hot sun. "FUCK!"

Brendan lay face down, looking almost peacefully asleep. Sawyer's blood from the bullet wound in the back had formed a small but noticeable alarming patch. Underneath the former legionary's chest however was a much larger amount of blood that he had lost from the shot to the chest. Connor clutched Brendan's armour from the back and turned him over. Peaceful but innocent were the words to describe how the very pale Brendan now looked.

"You ain't doing this to me… not to us." Connor began hitting Brendan. "NOT FUCKING US!"

Connor wailed out and began to cry. For minutes that felt like hours, Connor sat with his hands covering his face, elbows attached to his knees and his feet spread out. Controlling his breathing and wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks. Echoing through the vicinity Connor's shouts of grief were heard by someone who was still here. Connor was still weeping and then suddenly stopped and focused his senses when he heard a sound he always would remember. The loading of a rifle. Kirkbride then flipped the safety off of his 9mm pistol and focused like a hawk to the very exact spot the nose came from and he knew. Instincts of a soldier, Connor got up and dove in a fucking flash when he knew. A muzzle flash followed him close behind and **BANG!** A gunshot went off, narrowly missing him.

Connor took cover behind another dumpster, that becoming a common thing on this day. Another bullet was fired, ricocheting off the steel dumpster.

"I know it's you! I know!" Connor shouted, knowing it was his former friend trying to kill him.

His words spoke a hard revealing truth to Carrie Boyd who then halted her shooting to think, giving him an opening. The former medic leaned out of cover and fired at her, causing Boyd to panic and take cover behind the concrete wall.

"We all know!" Connor told her from behind cover.

Boyd was angered by this, but it wasn't ever gonna stop her fighting.

"It doesn't matter Connor! You're all fucked either way" She shouted back.

"I doubt that, you got about thirty fucking seconds to live!" Connor threatened.

Both knew each other, and had fought with each other, and with the entire situation they had been put in, it was now life or death, they had to outplay each other. Boyd couldn't waste time now that she knew that she had been compromised. As fast as humanly possible she leant out of cover and fired. **One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight!** She fired extremely quickly, the service rifles were semi-automatic, you had to make every shot count which she was _not_ doing. Connor clutched his pistol and waited for her to stop, and when she did he repeated her actions. **One! Two! Three! Four! Five!** Connor returned fire, and had only two left in his clip, which as the only clip he had. Anger and desperation and irrational thinking while at McCarran had stopped him thinking about taking any further ammo. Boyd on the other hand had only one clip left and had only a few rounds left herself. Both soldiers wanted this over, and did the same thing at the same time, without looking, aimed only their weapons out of cover and fired the very last rounds they both had. Sounds of the bullets echoed once more and when those sounds where finally over, both were curious to see if they had killed or hit the other. Connor slowly left cover, his pistol's slide permanently stuck back with no more bullets. He kept noticing Brendan's body which made him forget her for a second. Boyd had jumped out of cover, an empty magazine and saw Connor looking at his friend. Boyd and Connor then locked eyes, both were still alive and this had to end. Boyd got extremely angry and threw her empty and heavy service rifle at Connor. In the process of avoiding the flying rifle Connor hadn't noticed that she had unsheaved her combat knife and began sprinting at him. Kirkbride did the same, he dropped his 9mm straight to the floor and ran at the Lieutenant. The motion of running taking over, Boyd, like anyone else, never saw Connor slip on his brass knuckles. With the force of a vehicle collision the two NCR soldiers collided into a brawl on the floor. Kirkbride managed to lay two good punches into her ribs while she desperately tried to stab him dead. Carrie pulled Connor's long black hair to stop him punching with one hand while attempting to impale him with the other. Connor saw this and punched her wrist, making the knife fly a good few meters away from her. In the fury of this, Boyd clutched Connor's neck with both hands and tried to choke him out. Everything seemed to go quiet as Connor couldn't catch his breath and Boyd strained her face, trying to kill him. Just in the nick of time, Connor managed to slip a punch with his brass hand in on the left of her face, ending her grip on his throat. Connor couldn't punch her again, he had to breathe first. Boyd hadn't been hit that hard, not with Connor's strength at the time from being choked, so she could still move and think and with Connor gasping for air stunned, she moved for her knife. Whilst his eyes were tight shut, Connor knew exactly what she was doing, and being the quick thinker he was, he moved quickly towards Brendan's body. The backstabbing Lieutenant grasped her knife and turned for Connor who was now farther away, seemingly hovering over Brendan, here was her chance. Boyd dashed to her feet and started running again at Connor, with the intent of completely slashing his face open.

"Agghh!" She let out a battle cry as she approached him.

Connor turned, but with a surprise. Boyd felt her right hand holding the knife get inflicted with an immense and deadly amount of pain, but then realized she no longer had a right hand. Connor had taken Brendan's freshly sharpened machete and removed the traitor's hand.

Boyd then fell over onto her knees in agony. Looking up at it, Boyd saw her now fresh and horrible bleeding stump and screamed in pain, cried and then vomited. Connor didn't even hesitate, he dropped the machete and lunged at her, taking her back to the floor and overpowering her outright from on top. With his left hand, Connor grabbed her NCR jacket and with his right brass hand, laid punches in her until his hand was cool with fresh blood. All while letting out his own scream of anger that had been building ever since her name had been revealed from Len. Finally, before she went unconscious he stopped. Boyd was a bloody mess, the red blood seeping into her short black hair. Connor composed himself as much as possible and controlled his breathing.

"Why? Why did you do this?" Connor asked.

Barely able to speak, Boyd still told Connor.

"Because I'm loyal…" Boyd said. "Because I will stick to our leader more than anyone else in our whole damn fucking army…"

Connor was confused, what'd that mean? Boyd began to slip away so Connor slapped her face to wake her back up, covering another hand in blood.

"What do that mean? Why did you set us up? Why did you offer the Omerta's, Kings and Van Graffs control?" Connor asked these questions fast.

"Hanlon knew too much about Oliver's plan. He was against it, so Oliver told me he trusted me as his best soldier, and I promised to be… his eyes and ears." Boyd began to whisper. "I couldn't talk to Hanlon, it would give it all away… so the Omerta came in handy."

Connor's face widened, this went deeper than anyone else could have ever pictured.

Boyd swallowed a lump of bloody saliva. "Once me and Oliver found that Hanlon knew too much, he had to go…" She paused. "So I killed him. Oliver was pleased."

Connor could only listen and process, Boyd of all people, killed Chief Hanlon.

"You… it was you…" Connor's voice was now calm and soft but then got angry. "All of this time… You played us!"

"No. I did what I was ordered by our General. Let's be honest here Connor… you three were always gonna get fucked in this. One way or another, you were all gonna go down. I killed Hanlon, made it look like Legion, which they agreed to." Boyd mumbled.

Connor glared. "Agreed to? You mean the Legion are in on this too?!"

Boyd formed a pathetic smile. "Yeah, Oliver and the Legion, they're talking, they're agreeing to something that not you, or any other piece of stupid shit in this wasteland can even fathom. It's good." She growled.

Connor let go of her and stood up. He paced around, absolutely shocked and sick to his stomach on what he just heard. No longer that angry and only knowing what he had to do, Connor picked back up Brendan's machete and knelt on one knee over her again.

"What is it that Oliver's planning exactly? What the fuck could the NCR General be planning that includes the Legion? Hell there's hardly any Legion left anymore." Connor said, confused still.

Boyd opened her eyes and looked at her former fellow soldier and friend.

"Nor is there that many of us NCR, or our resources. What Oliver and the Legion are planning, is pure power." She whispered.

Connor almost understood now, Oliver wanted to unite the two most powerful factions in the land, in order to keep that very power that he loved? If that was the very truth, then he was talking about a man that had almost if not completely lost it. And in losing it, had started a conspiracy that need not have ever happened. Connor knew everything now, absolutely everything. All that was left now, was to end it all. Including Boyd.

"All of this, you're a part of it all. You always were. Hanlon, the innocent child in Freeside, and now my friend Brendan. You killed him too huh?" Connor was talking down to her. "Three innocents… you killed."

Boyd grunted. "Nah… none of us are innocent Connor, that's what you forget."

"What even a young child is guilty of something?!" Connor shouted.

Boyd didn't respond, somewhere deep in her soul she knew that everything that had happened was wrong, but she would never ever admit it.

"You killed my former Chief, a man who was good to us all. You caused the death of a child in this world, and you killed my friend, the man who saved my fucking life." Connor whispered grimly.

Boyd listened and then whispered back after a cough.

"Connor… that's the way it works." She last said.

With those words, the last ounces of anger Connor had for her went into the machete as he then lifted it up and impaled the sharp and blood wet blade into her heart. Boyd gasped and moaned as she released her final breath and slowly closed her eyes. The traitor, Lieutenant Carrie Boyd of the NCR, was dead. Connor's face was twisted in anger but then relaxed back to normal and composed himself. Never in his life had he ever killed someone in such a manor, but that was a line that should never have been crossed. With everything he needed to know, he collected his 9mm and holstered both that and Brendan's machete. Out of respect for his friend, he picked up Brendan onto his shoulders and began to head back to McCarran, with one thing on his mind. Ending this.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

 **10:47PM, THURSDAY MAY 15TH, 2282, CAMP MCCARRAN**

Composing is all that he had done for almost an hour at this point. Shaun had been sitting, eyes closed, slowly controlling his breathing. Inhaling quickly but exhaling very slowly and almost silently. Whether the Brother of Steel had ever done such a thing before to another person in his life was ambiguous to everyone and even if Shaun had, he wouldn't be speaking of it. For an hour now it had been only him and Colonel Hsu sat in the latter's office of the McCarran Terminal Building. Not a word had been exchanged by either man, only the wonder of the situation they were currently in. Connor had been gone for this whole hour and not a word or sign had been given to either man since. Shaun was sitting on the floor in the corner of Hsu's office while the Colonel himself sat in his desk chair, head in hands. With Chief Hanlon dead, General no longer here and his right hand soldier Lieutenant Boyd officially a traitor, Hsu was in a bad place. Much worse a place than he may have ever been. Shaun on the other hand was just calming himself, awaiting any word from either of his friends out in Freeside. This day had been a bad one for all men, but also the worst Shaun had had in the past eight months. None of the days being trapped and isolated in a damp and stinking NCR cell were as bad as today. Strangely however, in all of the anger, fear, desolation and treachery he and his two friends had witnessed this day, Shaun was almost grateful and even happy. This day had brought him closer to returning to his Brother's than any other day of the last eight months. An idea had been running through Shaun's head ever since his brutal interrogation of Len, the Omerta who was now imprisoned in a cell the same way he had been. An idea that would possibly benefit everyone who was now caught in this large web. Hsu finally at long last lifted his face from his hands and reached into the draw of his desk. Shaun watched closely as the NCR Colonel pulled out a half empty bottle of Scotch. Hsu didn't even reach for a glass, just unscrewed the bottle's top and began to drink straight from it. Shaun's eyebrows lowered and he began to stand up. Hsu noticed straight away and stopped him in his tracks by pointing.

"Don't even say a word." Hsu pointed, finishing his gulp. "Just sit back down."

Shaun stopped but then continued over to Hsu's desk.

"You're in a bad place, I get that. You put me through eight months of the same fucking shit." Shaun said calmly.

Hsu watched and listened as the Brotherhood of Steel soldier sat down in the chair across from his own.

"But right now, what you're into. What we're _all_ into. Drinking scotch? This ain't the time or the place."

Hsu and Shaun locked eyes for a good few moments that seemed like awhile for both men before Hsu shut his. The NCR Colonel and right now the NCR's final beam of strength listened to Shaun and put away the Scotch. Drinking his sorrows away at this point would help absolutely nobody. Whilst putting the bottle back into his draw, the denial began again.

"Look, it can't really be Boyd. She's been with me throughout all of this, and at no point has she shown any fucking weird behavior." Hsu explained, his arms moving with his words. He wanted to believe this more than anyone.

Shaun glared. "Be serious Colonel. You of all people should know, in this wasteland, hell, in this _world_. Anyone is capable of backstabbing no matter what the circumstances. You say she never showed any signs of being on the other side? Maybe that's why she was the perfect fucking person for doing what she was doing." Morse gave the truth.

The Colonel was still in disbelief. "How could I not have seen that? I guess with Hanlon turning up dead and Oliver vanishing-" Hsu was cut off.

"Oh shut up! Stop with the self-sympathy and excuses bullshit. You didn't see any of this in front of you Colonel, because you didn't want to." Shaun told him, as calm as he had been today. "That's the problem with you Republic people. You will never look to your own as the bad guys, because to you, you're all perfect. To you, Carrie Boyd would never have been the traitor, because of that one fundamental reason: She is NCR."

Hsu listened and could almost cry with the mix of emotions he was feeling, but he just sat and shook.

"So we just sit on our asses and wait then?" Colonel Hsu was asking the man before him.

Before Shaun could even think of a reply, both men heard the doors of the building slam and a voice echo loud from down the hall.

 ** _I NEED A DOCTOR!_**

Shaun and Hsu both knew that as Connor Kirkbride's voice. Both men got out of their chairs and entered the main hall fast, running down to Connor who had Brendan Sawyer over his shoulders. Echoes of their boots in the very empty building almost made their voices inaudible for a moment. Seeing Brendan Sawyer over Connor's shoulders, pale, made Shaun more scared than he had been throughout this entire ordeal.

"What the fuck happened?!" Shaun asked, panicking.

"He's been shot, twice! But I think I felt him breathe!" Connor told them.

Connor truly believed that he had felt something, but his mind had begun eating away at him on the whole journey back to McCarran.

"Well, you're the goddamn medic! Why haven't you treat him?!" Hsu shouted.

Colonel Hsu was acting like Connor's superior again. In this situation, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I ain't done anything medical in a year! I'm not risking anything, just get a fuckin Doctor!" Connor yelled into the Colonels face.

Time seemed to slow, Shaun looked at Connor who was quite clearly exhausted. The Brother of Steel saw something in the former NCR medic's eyes that he hadn't seen before this. Brendan was as white as a ghost across Connor's shoulders, and Shaun became frightened when he saw the patches of blood, some still fresh from the two bullet wounds the ex-Legionary had received.

"Come on, the concourse!" Hsu told the men.

Connor and Shaun followed the Colonel from behind as they almost sprinted towards the entrance of the McCarran concourse, where some NCR traders were stationed and the Camp doctor. All of them burst into what was clearly a medical room. In this room was a man they had not met before.

"Kemp! We need you to see to this man!" Hsu ordered the man who seemed to be the Camp's Doctor.

Dr. Kemp turned around frantically at the sound of his door slamming open and his Colonel yelling orders. Connor, with one arm, shoved many glass bottles, empty chemical containers and other medical equipment off of one long table of the room, shattering some of them. With a now open medical table, Connor lay his former Legionary friend out of the table.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" Kemp asked, angry about Connor's lack of care.

Shaun looked at Brendan, who looked so much at peace after being hit with two gravely bullets. More happy and peaceful than Shaun had ever seen him in only the week they had known one another. Connor's eyes were so wide after the tiring and life threatening day he had had. This was also the fear of losing his friend, even if it was denial after having already lost him, and his mind only making him believe what he wanted to believe.

"You save him!" Connor pointed at Kemp.

Dr. Kemp stood there scratching his head fast. He was so taken aback by all of this suddenly he almost lost his skills for a moment. Turning his head up at Colonel Hsu, Kemp saw him only nod, pretty much telling him to do as Connor said.

"Well, what the hell's happened to him?" Kemp asked.

"Two gunshots! One around the heart area, one at the bottom of the back! Are you dim?!" Connor replied.

Dr. Kemp was a good Doctor for the NCR soldiers, to the point he was always kept safe in any bad situations to make sure he was always there. Connor himself had learnt a lot of his own medical knowledge from Dr. Kemp in his early days, but it was too long ago and too short a learning time for Kemp to recognize him anymore. Dr. Kemp began inspecting Brendan.

"Are you sure he's alive?" Kemp asked Connor. "He seems to already be gone, son."

"I felt him breathe!" Connor was still yelling.

Kemp looked back to Brendan, to Colonel Hsu and then back to Connor. The Doctor then proceeded to feel the pulse on Brendan's neck.

"Are you sure that wasn't your imagination?" Kemp again asked a very necessary question.

Connor, so full of emotions left, right and centre, snapped. The former NCR Soldier lunged at the Doctor, grabbing his Medical coat with a tight grip from both hands. Kemp found himself slammed up against the wall of his own medical room, knocking his head dizzy.

"Don't fucking patronize me! That is my friend!" Connor was irrational, even Shaun and Hsu were hesitant to step in here.

"You're gonna save his life! He's alive!" Connor was in denial.

Kemp's eyes finally focused again and he controlled his breathing before turning his head to his Colonel.

"You want me to treat the patient? Then get this man off of me and out of the concourse." Kemp told Hsu straight.

Connor tightened his grip of the Doctor after hearing this deal.

"Let go of him now, Connor." Hsu was sternly ordering.

Connor heard Hsu but did not listen, he only continued to burn Kemp with his deadly eyes.

"I respect you Doctor Kemp, but if you knew the day I've had, you'd know I'm not imagining things… If you don't treat him, you kill him, and then I swear to god, I'll kill you." Growled the former medic.

Connor's focus was then broken by a sound.

 ** _Click!_**

Connor kept hold of Kemp while turning his head to his rear. Colonel Hsu had flipped the safety off of his own 9mm pistol and had it pointed at Connor.

"Let. Him. Go. Now!" Colonel Hsu was not turning against Connor. He was saving him from his own actions.

Connor seemed to calm instantly, and within seconds of seeing the barrel aiming in his direction, let go of the Doctor.

"Nobody's killing anyone, just back away now slowly and calm you fucking self down. You, Shaun and me are going back to my office and we're gonna talk." Hsu was serious now, more serious than Connor had seen him in a long, long time.

Shaun was completely on Hsu's side here. Connor needed to calm down, and fast.

"Come on, let's go rest, talk about things." Shaun was telling his friend.

Connor's eyes began to water, the day's events finally taking their toll. Slowly but surely, Connor walked away from the Doctor, and giving him a look of utter apology during, before walking for the exit. Hsu and Shaun followed closely behind, leaving Brendan in the hands of Dr. Kemp, who once again felt Brendan's pulse. Before Hsu left the room too, he looked at Kemp one last time. Dr. Kemp shook his head slightly. Hsu then took a moment and then left. Right outside of the McCarran concourse, Connor and Shaun walked back into the Terminal Building and instantly, Connor fell to his knees and broke down. Shaun then saw to his friend, down on one knee with his right hand on Connor's shoulder. Tough was an understatement for Connor, especially after the day they'd had, but seeing the former NCR soldier now sob and cry put no further doubt in Shaun's mind that no matter what, Connor was still just a man. They were all _just men_. Feeling sympathy and understanding his friends emotions, Shaun came to the same realization as Connor and a tear ran down his own face. It was in this moment, after so long, Shaun remembered that he was a human being. He hadn't felt as much emotion in such a long time. Connor's eyes were red and beginning to sting from the tears and the lump in his throat wouldn't let up.

"She killed him… She killed him." Connor whispered, to either himself or Shaun, or both.

Shaun felt his friend begin to shake intensely. Following this Shaun tightened his grip on Connor's shoulder.

"Hey… I know… But right now we can't be like this." Shaun was right. "We have to be cool if we wanna finish this… For him."

Connor's eyes were still full of water, but he looked straight into Shaun's eyes and then nodded with his eyes shut, causing the last few tears to run down his cheeks.

"Yeah." Connor sniffed and wiped his face. "Right."

Shaun patted his friends shoulder and then they both stood.

A hour later, Connor and Shaun were sat together with Hsu in the latter's office, all three men sharing a bottle of scotch to ease their emotions. Not the correct way, but a way that worked nonetheless. Heavy and specific things were on the minds of Shaun and Hsu.

"Connor." Hsu grabbed his attention.

A tired and totally unfocused Kirkbride turned to his former Colonel. Shaun was observing as always.

"What happened out there?" Hsu asked. "Where's Boyd?"

Connor only stared at Hsu for a minute before looking away, this is something Shaun picked up on instantly.

"What'd you do?" Shaun wanted the truth.

Silence infested the room and the intensity could be cut with a small needle it was so thick. Connor wanted to say, and he would say, he just had trouble admitting it and letting the words go. Eventually, the medic got up from his seat and paced around the room.

"Connor!" Shaun shouted. "What did you do?!"

Connor stopped pacing and looked at Shaun and then to Hsu.

"I killed her." He revealed.

They knew. There was no shock between Shaun and Hsu, they knew that all along that Connor had done this, ever since Len mentioned her name, they just had to hear him say it.

"She was gonna kill me, so I killed her. It was Boyd who tried to get us killed in Freeside. It was her who shot Brendan when he found out about her." Connor told them.

"What did you get out of her?" Shaun needed to know. "Or was it a straight kill?"

Connor signed and closed his eyes before looking at Shaun again.

"She was in cahoots with the Omerta's, Kings and Van Graffs, making a deal to give them power once a plan was complete." Connor began.

"Plan?" Hsu asked. The Colonel had to brace himself.

Connor took a moment to compose himself, the revelation coming was nothing Hsu was gonna be ready for.

"Oliver is not missing. He never _was_ missing. It was Oliver who ordered Chief Hanlon to be killed, by Carrie Boyd."

Shaun's face dropped and Hsu instantly began to feel sick. Connor just continued.

"Boyd, all this time, was Oliver's eyes and ears on everything that was going on here. He's the one who took the 40,000 missing caps. Oliver is aligning with the Legion at the Fort, and plans to try to align the NCR with whatever's left of the Legion." Connor revealed all.

Hsu shook his head sharply. "No, no. That's bullshit, that's fucking insane!"

Connor turned and walked closer to his old Colonel.

"I know it sounds unimaginable, but Boyd wasn't dying, I could've let her live, but she told me all of this, before I actually put her down. Why would she lie? We knew it was her, she was compromised."

Hsu still wouldn't believe it.

"General Oliver has been the NCR leader for years now. Yeah he hasn't got the best reputation because he can be a little about himself only, but betray the NCR like this? It's wrong, you are dead wrong." Hsu sternly told his former subordinate.

"Boyd wasn't saying _that. I_ am not saying that. Oliver isn't betraying the NCR, he's trying to unite its forces with Caesar's Legion! Which is just as bad, it'll cause such a fracture!" Connor explained back.

Shaun then had a question. "This doesn't answer why Oliver and Boyd would then frame the Legion for Hanlon's murder, or exactly why the hell he took 40,000 caps."

Connor looked at Shaun and let out another long sigh.

"Look, this is very fucking far gone… But I'm gonna end this. I'm gonna find Oliver and try to stop him doing this." Said Connor.

Hsu finally couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"Wait. I don't believe this. Why would Oliver even do any of this? Are you sure to god that Boyd wasn't feeding you total bullshit before she pretty much predicted you'd kill her anyways?" Hsu asked.

This Colonel was in a terrible place, and also in a very hard place in terms of the NCR. Hsu was their last high commander, everyone else was either dead or gone. Chief Hanlon killed, Boyd betrayed and now dead, Oliver at the Fort with the Legion making a deal, something he could _not ever_ tell his soldiers. Connor understood all of the reasons for Hsu's concerns here.

"I know, Hsu. You can't really buy any of this because of the position you're in. I almost can't, but I know when a person is lying and when it's the thick pure truth getting spilled on me. Boyd… was _not_ lying. We're now the only fucking people who know about this whole damn conspiracy and that also means we're the only people in any position to stop it. I'd rather do that than watch from the sidelines while Oliver's goal gets achieved." Connor was right in every word as he continued. "I've been on the sidelines because of my own actions and choices for a year now, but I won't do it any longer. I will _not_ avert my eyes… Not again."

Hsu and even Shaun were compelled by the words of the former NCR Medic.

"If Oliver's plan comes to… the NCR might crumble. On the other hand this damn alliance with the Legion remnants may _actually happen_ and then the Mojave will crumble. Either way, we're gonna lose in this, so we need to do something _fast_ , and _now_. We can't wait it out and hope to see the day when this all ends, because it's only us that can end it. Nothing is ever over, until the very end closure, which is us." Connor told them, finally done saying everything he had been wanting to say since he brought Brendan back to McCarran.

Shaun nodded his head and Hsu only looked at the man he had thrown out of this very building a year ago. Hsu knew in this moment the mistake that he had made. Deep down, Connor was a true soldier, almost Ranger material, and he had thrown him out and discharged him.

"I'm with you on this." Shaun agreed with no question.

Connor then looked back at his former Colonel waiting for his decision. Hsu was just silent for a few moments.

"I discharged you because you abandoned your squad. But at that time, I'll admit I doubted you were ever that great of a soldier anyway. But just this minute, right now… I know that's bullshit. So you've got me on your side here. You had just better be damn right about this whole thing." Hsu reluctantly agreed too.

Kirkbride took a moment to appreciate the honesty from Hsu, and then didn't argue or keep that conversation going.

"Okay. Then do we have any real ideas?" Connor asked.

Shaun heard the words which were music to his ears.

"I have one. And it's never sounded better to me than it does right now." Morse revealed.

Connor and Hsu looked to him and allowed him to continue.

"My Brother's in Hidden Valley. I think I can persuade them to help us."


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

 **09:12AM, FRIDAY MAY 16** **TH** **, 2282, HIDDEN VALLEY**

Sweat ran down every part of his body by this point. Shaun had walked mile after mile from Camp McCarran all the way to Hidden Valley. It was a fenced off dusty field of bunkers where his Brother's currently resided, hidden away from the rest of the Mojave. Operation Sunburst six years before, a battle over the HELIOS One facility between the NCR and the Brotherhood of Steel. Having lost, the latter had to take whatever was left of each other and their forces to the West Bunker of Hidden Valley and have laid low in the Mojave ever since. Reports in the six years following were that of sightings of people in and around the Valley after dusk most nights, however the witnesses could never report just exactly who it was due to the bad visibility. Shaun Morse was in the battle of Sunburst when the Brotherhood lost and it was Hidden Valley where he came from eight months before when he was imprisoned by the NCR. Morse had not meant to reveal the whereabouts of the Brotherhood to Colonel Hsu but at this point he didn't really have any other option. Using the route he had remembered in reverse Shaun had battled feral ghouls and large Rad scorpions on his way there and had hardly felt any pressure. Mutated creatures were a common enemy for the Brotherhood where they came from on the east coast. Early in the morning, with the sun scorching his right side, Shaun was trying to remember which bunker his Brothers were residing in. After all this time they could have changed, in fact they could've went somewhere else _entirely_. The air never felt fresher than when he removed the bandana covering his mouth and the goggles covering his eyes. Stopping to take a breather, Shaun found his focus then grabbed. Without hesitation, Shaun drew his 10mm pistol, spun around and fired. **_ONE! TWO! THREE!_** Bullets were fired into the face of a large sand coloured Bark Scorpion. Shaun couldn't forget that Bark Scorpions never travel alone and are always in packs, he quickly hawked at his surroundings and caught the sight of the two more approaching scorpions. They never even got close.

Reloading his pistol, Shaun headed towards the West Bunker, being pretty sure that was the one his Brothers were in. Shaun's mind had been everywhere on this journey since he left Connor and Hsu at McCarran. He was eager but nervous at the same time to finally see his Brothers of Steel again, he had wished for nothing more for almost a year now, but he was worried they may think he'd been turned by the NCR, or get suspicious, having been thought dead this whole time. Unfortunately for him though, there was no time for happy returns and reunions, time was running out. General Oliver and the Legion's 'plan' was slowly becoming reality. Shaun had to get in, get the Brotherhoods help and then get back to McCarran. Finally he came to face the West Bunker. Although he had seen it many times before, the word ' **PEACE** ' sprayed on the right side of the door in red always came him chills. The Brotherhood always wanted power on the East Coast but after encountering the NCR and losing, all they wanted was a truce and the ability to leave the Mojave, with the right amount of supplies from the NCR to make up for what they had taken from them during Sunburst. As he approached the door, it opened automatically for him, leaving him looking down at a long staircase that seemed to just descend into darkness. Down he walked, in the now much cooler and chilled air, making it seem like the door hadn't been open for a while. Enjoying this cool air after the red hot journey, Shaun picked up the pace as he headed further down. Finally he found himself in a large concrete room, full of containers and another door opposite him, which was blocked off by sandbags and a turret. This left no further doubt in Shaun's mind that he was in the right place. It was time, so he composed himself and took a long and gentle breathe to relax himself before pressing the intercom button that was on the right side of the door.

"Are the bears still hunting?" Shaun said, slightly smirking.

That sentence was a code word that only the Brotherhood knew, as it came from their own Elder. Elder's being the highest ranking members wherever the Brotherhood were stationed. Shaun waited for a reply but never received one. Minutes went by and he started to worry.

" _Are the bears still hunting?_ " He repeated, this time with a little more desperation in his voice.

Still just silence on the other end of the intercom. Shaun, after so much time away, waiting for this opportunity to finally see and speak to the people he loved and the faction he had stayed loyal too, began to cry. Tears filled his eyes slowly and he strained his mouth to fight the lump in his throat. In anger and frustration.

" ** _FUCK!_** " Shaun turned and threw the turret down to the floor.

As heavy as it was, Shaun was strong, and being angry made him even stronger. The loud crash of the turret echoed through the room and only deafening silenced followed. Shaun sat down with his back against the sandbags and faced the door, hoping so desperately that he would hear something, a voice on the intercom, footsteps on the other side, _anything_. Shaun couldn't stop thinking and worrying. Had they left him? Had they already made their journey back to D.C? Never had he felt so alone than he did right now. Even being imprisoned in a cell by the NCR surrounded by soldiers who resented him didn't make him feel as isolated as he did in this moment. The mere thought of being left alone by his Brothers in his horrid filthy wasteland frightened him, like a small child who had lost sight of their Mother. Finally the eight months away were catching up to him and the seemingly silent but deadly, tough as nails Steel Brother began to silently sob as his face felt into both his palms.

Minutes went by that felt like hours until Shaun finally stopped crying and composed himself, wiping away the tears from his now stinging eyes.

"The bears _are_ still hunting. State your name and rank." A deep commanding voice finally stated through the other side of the intercom.

Shaun's eyes went wide and was stunned with joy so much that he couldn't even believe it for a moment.

"State your name and rank." The voice ordered again.

Shaun snapped out of his happy trance and lunged for the intercom.

"Shaun Morse, sir. Paladin." Shaun almost yelled.

Shaun then waited for another few moments of silence and finally the ground rumbled slightly as the large metal door was opened. Out of the other side came three Brotherhood of Steel soldiers in full power armour, noticeably in bad condition and in the middle of them stood a familiar face to Shaun. Head Paladin Edgar Hardin. He looked exactly the same, with his balding head and thin comb over, the man didn't seem to age.

"Well, I don't fucking believe it…" Paladin Hardin stated.

Shaun stood, still with a fallen face. He didn't know what to say as Hardin slowly walked closer in front of him.

"And I thought you'd never come back…" Hardin said. "I'm disappointed."

Shaun and Hardin glared at each other for a long moment before both finally forming large smiles. Laughing loud both men sharply connected hands and hugged one another.

"Where the fuck you been?!" Hardin yelled, very happy to see one of his men actually alive.

"That's a story that is long, boring and something I can't talk about right now. Hardin, I have to see McNamara. Right now, you guys have no idea what we're all in the mist of." Shaun told his superior.

Hardin wasn't exactly sure of what Shaun meant. He hadn't seen his solider in over half a year, and wasn't sure of his state of mind either.

"What do you mean?" Hardin asked.

Shaun was looking at the other soldiers before replying.

"You won't understand right now, I _have_ to talk to the Elder, now. Please." Morse insisted.

Edgar Hardin took in his words and had a moment to himself. It wasn't that he didn't trust Shaun, and he knew that even with eight months absent, Shaun Morse was a Paladin, and he was still one of them.

"Alright, follow me." Hardin told him.

Both Shaun and Hardin went back through the door leading to another staircase leading down into the Brotherhood's small base of operations.

"Lock the door." Hardin ordered the other Paladins before descending the stairs with Shaun.

As they walked down the stairs, Shaun's nerves started doing summersaults. He hadn't seen any of them for eight months. Maybe they thought he was dead, maybe they thought he'd deflected. Shaun had missed everyone there. Missed his friends, the other soldiers, the girls. Shame he couldn't act on any of his urges to reunite with everyone, he had one mission and he had to do it quick. Thoughts of Oliver and the Legion succeeding in their plan were racing through his head as he was lead through the base. Suddenly everything he was hearing stopped. Dead silence covered his ears and everything seemed to slow. Paladins and Knights slowly stopped what they were doing to see Shaun being led by Hardin. He felt their eyes and heard their quiet their voices. Some looked happy, some looked confused and some even had hostile looks. It was obvious that theories on what had happened to him had varied on his fellow Brothers. There were faces he recognized but mostly all he saw was Knights and Paladins in armour with their faces covered. Shaun finally let his focus go from them and refocus on his job. Hardin finally led him through a large sliding door and into a smaller room. Soon the door closed up again and he was in a room with only Hardin and two Knights. Finally the other door in front of them opened revealing a long, dark, narrow, concrete corridor. As he and Hardin began walking, Shaun could see beyond the dark corridor the shiny white hair of a very familiar man. Finally at long last, after what seemed like an entire lifetime, Shaun was put face to face once again with Elder McNamara. McNamara sat on his high throne-like podium. Shaun knew what he was here for, but finding the words at this very moment became a very hard task.

"Paladin Morse. Asked to speak to you immediately." Hardin stepped in to break the silence.

McNamara listened and just stared at Shaun.

"Good to see you again. Would you mind telling us where it is you've been?" McNamara finally spoke.

No hesitation. "The NCR didn't take in our request for supplies. They took off my armour, destroyed it and then imprisoned me in the cells of Camp McCarran. I was there for eight months alone. I never spoke to them no matter what it was they asked or offered me. I've only been out of the cells for a week."

McNamara listened and seemed to genuinely believe the Paladin. One arm and hand leaning on the podium and the other slowly rubbing his chin.

"You're here to take action against the NCR I presume? Unfortunately it's not pos-" The elder was cut off.

"No. Not at all. I know to you and everyone else here this will sound strange. I'm here to ask you all to help me and the NCR." Shaun revealed.

Every face around him fell and looked to each other. It was fairly surprising at what the Paladin had told them and they could hardly believe it.

"Come again, son?" Hardin asked.

"Look it sounds weird but please, Elder. May I be allowed to explain?" Shaun politely asked.

McNamara thought, looked at Hardin and then back to Shaun.

"Pray continue." The Elder granted.

"A week ago. I and two other 'partners' for lack of a better word, were given a mission. Do or die, really. Our mission was to find out who killed NCR Chief Hanlon and the location of a supposedly _missing_ NCR General Oliver."

Elder McNamara had to step in. "Hanlon is dead? And Oliver is missing?"

Shaun continued. "You haven't heard nearly half of it."

The Elder then leaned back to listen.

"Me and my partners infiltrated a Casino at the New Vegas strip to get hold of a lead, which we did. Coming back through Freeside we were attacked by Van Graffs and by Kings on the street. Luckily we survived, but not without innocent causalities. It was through this lead we found out that it was an NCR soldier that tipped those gunmen off in Freeside to kill us as we came back through." Shaun spoke calmly. "It was at this point that same NCR soldier killed one of my partners, who was also my friend. That NCR soldier is dead now. The funny thing being that the main forces of the Republic including Colonel James Hsu had no idea this was going on. General Oliver was never missing. In fact he is at the Fort with the remnants of Caesar's Legion to build an alliance and then take control of the Mojave."

Speechless was the Elder, as was Head Paladin Hardin. McNamara just leaned back in his chair and kept his hand on his chin.

"Are you saying that General Oliver has devised corruption on a very mass scale?" The Elder asked.

"As far as we're know at this very moment, yes. General Oliver ordered Chief Hanlon to be killed once the latter found out too much too early." Shaun replied.

"This sounds way too ridiculous, Morse." Hardin spoke out.

Shaun turned his head to his superior.

"You noticed? We all find this hard to believe but trust me, all of this information is from the mouths of those who _are_ or _were_ involved. Needless to say some of them aren't still with us."

"So you've came here not to reunite with us, you're here to ask us, the Brotherhood of Steel, to help the NCR. Do you forget Operation Sunburst?" Hardin asked.

"Do not get me wrong, all I've ever dreamed of doing for eight months is coming back here and leaving this fucking wasteland with all of you. But right now, I come in desperate circumstances that are only getting worse every minute we don't do something."

Elder McNamara kept listening, keen to hear the Paladin's suggestion.

"Colonel Hsu is not in on this whole thing. Many of the NCR troops aren't. I, my one remaining partner and whatever forces Hsu can gather are heading to the Fort to try and end this whole thing before chaos breaks out. I'm here to ask if you are all willing to help the NCR. It's a very hard request, but a necessary one nonetheless. If Oliver and Legion succeed here, we can forget about being able to leave the Mojave. They'll march here, in great numbers and wipe us out. I don't want that and I will not allow it. So I want you all to help. Use what we have and either negotiate with Oliver or take the fight to him before the aligned forces get a chance to make the first move." The Paladin asked.

Everyone remained quiet. The Elder looked at Hardin and the latter looked back. Even the Knights in the room looked at one another.

"This is a hard thing for us to do. The NCR is the reason we cannot go home and that we're in such little numbers now. How can you expect us to aid these people in a fight against who? Themselves?" McNamara asked.

Shaun sighed and put his head to hands.

"Don't hear this wrong, Elder. But with or without your help, I am ending this entire situation which not only took the life of a friend I didn't expect to have, it killed an innocent child. This whole thing has gone way too far. It needs stopping _now_. I think we have a chance of winning, but we could also be walking straight to our final destinations. But with the help from my Brothers here, I know we can win." Shaun compelled his fellow Brothers in Steel.

Elder McNamara seemed a lot more touched by the statement Shaun had made. The Elder leaned forward again and asked a question.

"A child died?" McNamara needed to know.

Shaun looked up into the Elder's eyes. "In Freeside… Yes. A child was caught in the crossfire."

With that, McNamara leaned back once again and looked at Hardin who seemed visibly angry by the revelation. Shaun knew he had their attentions now especially.

"Oliver is responsible for the NCR dwindling our numbers in Sunburst. Oliver has now left his troops in the complete dark without a word. All to align with a faction we all know will not be accepted by anyone in the Mojave. This man is clearly all about one person only and that is himself. That does not mean the rest of the NCR are the same. I have met many NCR soldiers at this point, a lot of them are good people. Especially one. I want us to help them because if we can, we stop a terrible fracture of order here which will only make our position worse. We may even be able to come out of the other side in a much better place. We need supplies, ways and means of getting back to the Capital? We want a little more of a meaning in the Mojave? I think this is the way we do it."

Hardin walked closer to McNamara and whispered into his ear something that was inaudible to Shaun.

Elder McNamara clearly though deeply for a few moments after Hardin spoke to him. His face gave the signs.

"Alright. You've made your point and your words have compelled us Paladin Morse. It is good to see you back and that you still have the Brotherhood's best interest at heart." The Elder said.

"Always." Morse slightly nodded.

McNamara finally stopped rubbing his chin.

"Head Paladin Hardin is willing to gather what troops we have here and deploy them whenever you and your allies in the NCR see fit."

Shaun let out a sigh of relief. His mission was accomplished. Well… _one was_.

The Elder continued. "We will supply you with whatever weapons you may need. We still don't have that much, you understand. A full new suit of T-45d power armour will also be yours, Morse."

Shaun smiled and nodded a few times. "Thank you so much. This situation could be dyer but I am sure we can win now. Your help will be appreciated. We do what need to do."

Soon, Shaun was escorted out of the Elder's main room and into the armoury of the bunker. On the way he told Hardin of the entire plan that he had made with Connor before he left. They were to head to Cottonwood Cove and take the raft over to the Fort to make the stand against this 'Alliance'. Finally, it was the armoury where he stood face to face with his suit of power armour. It wasn't as 'new' as McNamara made out, but it was new _to Shaun_. It was in good condition however and it had to be tried out just slightly. Shaun watched as the armour seemed to open its mouth at the back. The Paladin stepped inside as the issued armour consumed him and then locked itself with him inside. Finally, he put on his helmet. Shaun hadn't felt what this was like for so long it was almost his first time again. But as he began walking around and getting the feel for it again, it all came flying back to him. Hardin and some Knights watched and handed him an unloaded Laser Rifle which he aimed around the room. It all felt good. After this, Shaun stood to face Hardin and removed his helmet.

"It's good, I guess I'll get used to it on my way back to McCarran." He said.

Hardin stepped forward and handed Shaun a funny looking red gun. Shaun looked down at this weapon and then back up to the Head Paladin.

"It's a flare. When you guys get over to the Fort, we'll be right behind waiting for your signal. When you need us to finally move, you shoot that off." Hardin pointed straight at Shaun's face.

Shaun didn't even respond, he just put out his hand and shook the Head Paladin's.

"Good to finally have you back." Hardin said sincerely.

"Good to finally _be_ back. Sir." Paladin Morse replied. Nothing more true had he ever said before.

With everything he needed, Shaun took a look back at everyone before walking back up the staircase to the cool warehouse-looking room and left the bunker back into Hidden Valley. He stood, full armour with only his helmet off in-between his arm and chest. From a short distance, he saw a larger bark scorpion coming straight for him again. With no hesitation, Shaun stopped the creature in its tracks with one foot. The heavy steel armour pinning the helpless scorpion. Slowly and brutally, Shaun pressed his leg down further, the cracking of bones and the sound of crunchy flesh were almost lovely to hear. The Paladin then stopped and left nothing of the scorpion but a puddle of dark brown ooze and pieces of rough flesh, bone and scorched skin. Smirking, never happier, Shaun then focused himself on the final objective he was now on. Morse put on his helmet and then started making his way back to McCarran, hoping to god the ' **PEACE** ' graffiti written on the West Bunker entrance could be something he was in the middle of making.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

 **11:31AM, SUNDAY MAY 18** **TH** **, 2282, MOJAVE WASTLEAND**

Sweat dripped from Connor and Shaun's faces as they stopped again for a breather. Both of them had been walking for a good two hours at this point. Shaun had informed his friend and Colonel Hsu after he'd hurried back from Hidden Valley. Hsu's thoughts were polarizing on the news that the Brotherhood of Steel had guaranteed their help in the entire situation. It had been a tough night for them all to deal with everything and just let the events of the past few days sink in, but finally they had arrived at this point.

 _8:57PM, NIGHT BEFORE, CAMP MACCARRAN_

"They'll be following you and your forces tomorrow when we leave, I told them." Shaun said to Connor and Hsu the night before.

Hsu was quiet. "So, the plan from here on out?" He then said.

Connor was sitting on the floor of Hsu's office, back against the crumbling wall.

"Now we head to the Fort. Obviously we all know a way there, right?" Connor asked.

Shaun turned his head to Connor. His power armour was standing empty in McCarran armory now, he didn't want to attract more attention in the base than he had to. Sure, the NCR troopers there knew exactly who he was at this point and what he was doing there _now_ but they still didn't take very kindly to the sight of the Brotherhood.

"I have no idea how to get to the fort. It's weird you expect me to." Shaun replied.

"I know where you're going with this." Hsu told Connor.

Both Kirkbride and his former Colonel gave each other a nod of agreement. Connor then stood up and turned to Paladin Morse.

"There's this place down by the Colorado River, south-east of here. It's called Cottonwood Cove. It's where the Legion used to be stationed to keep anyone from actually going to the Fort. It was a 'nobody who isn't Legion goes in or out' type place. Like a border." Connor said. "I only knew about it by word but a guy I used to talk and drink with in Novac told me a lot about it. He was first-recon with the Republic. Told me he took a lot of Legion out there way back around the time of the second Hoover Dam battle."

Shaun listened carefully and then needed something.

"Layout? Either of you know anything about what this place looks like?" The Paladin asked.

"My friend told me that it has a road or path that leads straight to their camp. They had a bunch of shitty tents pitched meters from the river. Near the tents was a cage where they keep or _kept_ slaves with explosive collars. Next to that is the HQ building and that's about as far as I know." Connor explained what Boone had told him back in Novac.

Shaun was quiet and then slowly sat down.

"So you two go there, on your own. I'll stay behind with my forces." Hsu started. "You both light a fire at Cottonwood maybe to let us know you've secured it. Then I'll keep the troops on the shore of the Fort after you've both taken the barge there. You use that 'flare gun' or whatever that the Brotherhood gave you and that's all of our signals to storm?" He asked.

Connor and Shaun were quiet, they looked at each other and then to Hsu.

"Pretty much, yeah. You're gonna have to deal with the Brotherhood being there too." Shaun told him.

"How many Legionaries do you both think are there? They're almost dead. Is the Brotherhood really necessary?" Hsu made a point.

Shaun glared at the Colonel. "Yeah… They are."

Hsu knew that they did need all the help they could get if things went south which they probably were inevitably going to.

"Alright, the way I see it, having more help could motivate the soldiers." Hsu agreed.

Connor's hands raised and then smacked down on his thighs. "Okay then. We're not wasting anymore time. If there's any legionaries there, we gotta take 'me out. There's no other way about it. We leave in the morning, Cottonwood is maybe a two hour walk from here."

Shaun nodded. "I'm with you, time to finish this."

 _11:08PM, HOURS LATER_

Connor was standing alone by now, the terminal building infested with darkness by this time of night. He hadn't touched scotch since he left Novac, but this was the night before he could meet his very end. He leaned against the railing of the balcony, looking over the main hall of the large base of operations. Everything that had happened in the past week and a half ran through his head. Life had changed so much for Connor in the past year but once again in only the space of ten days. He had went from practical alcoholic slob to pretty much a NCR soldier again… just not officially. Kirkbride stood there, sipping at the scotch he had gotten from Hsu. Deep thoughts in his head were suddenly interrupted by that very man.

"Connor." Hsu said.

He turned around slowly to see his previous Colonel, lit only dimly with the small lights the building had at night.

"What is it?" Kirkbride asked.

"You need to sleep, for tomorrow… you know?" Hsu was concerned for Connor right now.

"I know. I'll sleep I just needed to drink and process… reflect. Everything that's happened recently is… fucking weird." Connor replied. "Novac, Hanlon, what happened in Freeside. _Brendan_. A lot has happened in the last week or something, Hsu. I don't know whether to thank you or detest you."

Hsu looked down and nodded in agreement. "Fair. If I were you, I'd be conflicted there too."

"I guess I'll find out soon. Whether it's in my final moments before I'm dead or after everything's over." The former Medic whispered.

Hsu once again agreed and began walking away.

"Wait. I need to ask you something." Connor then stopped the Colonel.

"Shoot." Hsu turned his head.

"Are you _sure_ that your soldiers are up for this. After the Dam battle last year, or just in general, with the news about Oliver?" Connor needed to know.

Hsu looked away from Connor for a moment then stared momentarily out of the windows above at the black sky.

"I explained it to them. I motivated them. They're in this to the end. Trust me." Hsu looked back to Connor.

Sipping his scotch, Connor had nothing to say anymore, everything was in place now. He nodded and then Hsu left the balcony.

After another few minutes, Connor finally downed the rest of his scotch and headed for the sleeping quarters.

 _11:34AM, NOW_

Shaun made a loud metallic noise with every step. It wasn't able to be heard that well from even thirty yards away but being next to him it was almost deafening. Connor was in full NCR trooper armour, even though his dog tags were still in his pocket. The former medic was armed with a Combat Rifle fully loaded, his 9mm pistol holstered at his side and his brass knuckles securely on his person. Shaun needed nothing more than just his power armour. It made him look inhuman, especially with the helmet on, he then looked like just a machine. He felt a lot more comfortable now with a laser rifle, those weapons being the ones he was a lot better and experienced with. Both had said almost nothing to each other up until this point they'd gotten to. Both men knew this could be their last day in this hellacious and filth-ridden wasteland, but despite that neither could take their mind off their goal. Finally, in the sun scorched distance, they could both see the start of the long bank leading to the Colorado River and Cottonwood Cove. On their way they had encountered Gecko's and Ghouls, but they were no problem at all, not even a threat with Shaun now fully armoured. Even with these creatures killed, the two still knew they were no force to be reckoned with, nothing could prepare them for what could possibly be waiting for them at Cottonwood, and _especially_ not the Fort. When they had reached the top of the bank they proceeded slowly with caution, keeping their aims up at all times. Descending down the bank, everything got quieter and more silent. Even the sounds of New Vegas seemed to suddenly die as they were stood over by cliffs, hills and boulders. After a while walking, Connor and Shaun noticed something sinister in their view.

"Fuck…me…" Shaun whispered to himself.

Shaun holstered his laser rifle onto his back and removed his helmet to see it more clearly. Connor was shocked too, but a lot less as he had seen and heard about this a few times before. Finally, standing before them was a large, tall, intimidating wooden cross. Strung up on it was a skeleton. A person had been tied there and left to rot. The sight was abnormal for Shaun, but to Connor it was a gateway to his innermost, darkest places. It was _this_ that he ran from. That day at Camp Golf, he had abandoned his dying squad to avoid this happening to _him_. This skeleton, this demeaning way to die, could've been him. Kirkbride stood face to face with what threw him down the road which lead him to where he was right at this moment. He took a few moments to himself, walking a few yards facing way. Paladin Morse knew about everything so he let Connor take the time he needed. Connor sat himself down on the rocky sandy ground and dropped his head to his hands.

"Hey…" Shaun called over.

Connor lifted his face to Shaun.

"I understand… But you gotta put this shit to bed, right now." Shaun ordered his friend.

Morse was right, this sight was a setback for Connor's mind he probably didn't need, but he had to focus. Both men wanted to finish it all, get retribution for what had happened to them both, the child in Freeside… and Brendan Sawyer. The former NCR medic nodded, picked up his combat rifle and both of them continued on passed the corpse on the cross.

Minutes later, they could hear voices from beyond the rocks in front of them. Legionaries, it had to be. Sure enough it was. Connor had went prone and crawled around to see them. The place was exactly like Boone had described. Tents, cage, HQ building and in the distance a small barge anchored to a wooden dock. They needed to get on that barge in order to get to the Fort and get to Oliver. Shaun had to stay still, any movement from him would be heard at this point while he was in that armour. He waited as Connor whispered.

"One… two… three." Connor said quietly. "I can see three legionaries, they look badly armed, only pistols and knives."

Shaun listened and then nodded.

"On my word, we surprise them" Connor said as he started getting back up.

Suddenly Connor's neck felt cold as ice.

"Seems like you are the one being surprised…" A grim voice said.

Connor had a knife edge pressing against him.

Shaun saw this put found a 44. Magnum being aimed at his head. With his helmet off at this point, it'd be an instant kill.

Connor dropped his combat rifle and raised his hands above his head.

"Alright, just do not do anything you'll regret, listen to me." Connor began.

With force, the Legionary shut Connor up by throwing him against the large boulder in front of him. Kirkbride's lip split here and the blood left a mark on the rock. Connor held his mouth with both hands for a split second before the Legionary grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

"HANDS UP-"

 **WHAM!** Connor had span around pretty fast and laid a hard uppercut on the Legionaries chin, with his brass knuckles now on. Blood poured from the Crimson man's mouth as he stood wobbly and stunned. With this opening, Shaun moved and grabbed the scum by the head with both hands and very sharply snapped his neck. Brotherhood power armour extremely strong and powerful. Stealthy this would have been but on the neck snap, the Legionary's hand had twitched and fired a 44 round into the ground below, echoing throughout the entire area. All Legionaries were now alerted and made their way over.

"SHIT! Go, go, go now!" Shaun yelled at Connor while putting on his helmet, making him almost invulnerable.

Connor listened and ran around the boulder the opposite way while Shaun opened fired on the Legionaries with his Laser Rifle. Connor came around and saw that there wasn't only three, but another two. Still not many, but more than anticipated. Legionaries began to spot him as well as Shaun and started to open fire with their 44. Magnums and some even had Hunting Rifles. Those were deadly. In order to avoid the crossfire, Connor dove into the triangular tents and rolled across bedrolls. Now it was cat and mouse in-between those things for the Legionaries to try to pick him off. Meanwhile, Shaun had bullets deflecting off of his chest plate and managed to hit a Legionary in the forehead with his laser rifle. Shaun watched as the man slowly burnt to a crisp and became nothing more than an ash pile on the ground mixing with sand. His armour in danger of being punctured eventually, Shaun had to move back behind the boulder for cover. Kirkbride was watching Legionary legs move in fast even though they couldn't see him below inside the tents. Knowing when to strike, Connor popped out of the tent at the right moment when a Legionary was looking left, and shot him down with a hail of combat rifle rounds. Like a sack of shit, the Crimson scum hit the ground and began pouring of blood from the multiple bullet holes in his back. Shaun came running over as fast as his armour let him while firing his Laser Rifle with one hand at the Legionaries twenty yards from him. Bullets and gunfire made voices inaudible and with Shaun's helmet on, it was doubled. Connor stayed hunkered down in a tent and saw Shaun as the latter saw him. Paladin Morse only pointed, and he was telling Connor to head to the HQ building for cover. Nodding, the former NCR solider got up and fired with his combat rifle in the Legion's direction with a full clip while moving to cover. Diving for cover, the Legionaries were now under fire from both men, but one of them saw Connor moving behind the HQ building and then ran across the small battlefield to flank him.

"Oh fuck this!" Shaun shouted to himself under his helmet.

Tired of this, Shaun then took full aim with both hands, bullets ricocheting off his armour, and brutally zapped three Legionaries in a row with his rifle and all three of them joined their fallen comrade in being nothing but small extinguished bonfire's on the ground. Shaun, walking away now towards the HQ building noticed inside the cage where slaves were once held still lay some actual slaves, now nothing but rotten skeletons, much like the one on the cross up the hill. He grit his teeth so hard they almost shattered. Connor let his guard down with the sudden quietness in the area, he didn't realize Shaun had taken out all of them but one.

"Is that it?!" He asked shouting.

His questing echoed and let the last remaining Crimson know his position and how close he was. Connor turned around the corner of the building and found himself speared to the ground by the man.

In the ensuing scuffle Connor found a knife getting swung his way, getting flashbacks to his fight with Lieutenant Boyd. Before the Legionary could manage to slice him, Connor grabbed him by the throat and dragged him to ground and switched positions to Connor being the one overpowering him. **_WHAM! WHAM!_** Connor gave two hooks to the man's ribs before he defended himself with his knife. Connor's hand then suddenly was slashed on the top when trying to land another punch.

 _Aghh!_ Connor screamed in pain before the Legionary delivered a forearm smash to Connor's already busted mouth. Stunned, Connor was then flung to the ground next to the Legion soldier who then held the knife in a stabbing motion. As he lifted the knife to fatally kill Connor, the Legionary felt his hands get seemingly squashed. Shaun Morse, in full armour still, had grabbed the Crimson's hands and forearms in mid motion and then dragged him off of Connor, throwing him against the HQ building wall. This legionary hit the wall with such a force, it left a dint and crack in the concrete. Shaun slowly walked over to him and then almost snapped his neck by only latching onto it with his right hand.

"…Brotherhood's… bitch…" The Legionary spat blood on Shaun's helmet which hid all emotion and expression that he may have given off.

Shaun actually managed, with the given strength of his suit, to lift the Legionary off his feet by the neck with one hand. Unable to speak and only gag on any words to form, the man's face went red until Shaun let him go by throwing him down on the slight shore of the river. Coughing and gasping for air, the Legionary couldn't think about anything but air. Unfortunately for him, before he could appreciate any air, Shaun was on him again. Fiercely, Paladin Morse picked him up by the throat again with both hands and then flipped him over onto his front. Left hand then went to the Legionaries head and the right to his mid back, he began slowly submerging his full head and shoulders in the water.

"Wait… No… NO! NO! N-" The man's words suddenly became just bubbles and splashes of water.

Connor at this point was up, holding his wounded left hand. Even though stunned in a strange way at what he was seeing, he didn't intervene whatsoever, he knew the Legionary probably deserved it in some way or another. It wasn't until Connor had slowly made his way closer and also saw the skeletons in the cage that he understood Shaun's process of thought. Kirkbride watched as this huge monstrous looking metal thing that was Shaun, held down the smaller, Crimson-wearing human being that was squirming for freedom and air. Grunts, muffled screams and splashes of water were all Connor could hears as he shut his eyes and turned his head away. He just waited patiently as those noises and movements gradually slowed, slowed and slowed, got weaker and weaker and weaker. Finally, after what was longer than expected or probably intended by Shaun, the Legionary had drown and died a brutal death. Even Connor could hear, underneath the helmet, Shaun let out a huge breathe that had probably been held in throughout that entire action. Connor understood what he had done to the man, he deserved a death just as brutal and rough as they had given the person on the cross, and the people in the cage. Shaun stared at his friend for a few moments, the design of the helmet he wore gave off what looked like an angry face, full of power and strength, but then Shaun took it off and his face and eyes were red. He had cried. Maybe with anger, maybe with sadness, but nevertheless he pulled himself together with the cool air sinking in. About a half hour passed as Connor and Shaun searched the place but it had been seemingly looted already, maybe a while ago. Paladin Morse eventually walked across the dock and to the barge. It looked strong enough to hold him and his armour so his worries were now only on what was awaiting them at the Fort. Probably what had just happened but times ten. In the Cottonwood Restrooms right next to the dock, Connor searched for a few minutes and found seemingly nothing. However in the last stall, of all places in the Mojave, he found a bottle of Whiskey. Almost full. It seemed to be yelling at him. All he had been looking for that fateful day when he was dragged into this mess, was a full bottle of Whiskey. He thought to himself a moment and even smirked, it was like everything was coming full circle and this marked the end of his run. So he took it.

Outside at the dock, Shaun threw a full pack of matches onto a pile of firewood he had just assembled and it erupted into a full lit bonfire. This was Hsu and the Brotherhood's signal that they had secured Cottonwood Cove and were heading to the Fort with them immediately behind. Paladin Morse and ex-Soldier Kirkbride looked at each other and knew that this was it. If they took this barge, it could possibly be their finally journey and it was at this moment they both had to accept that. The silent faces they gave each other said more than any words could have. _Are you ready for this?_ Is what their faces said. Finally, after a few moments they gave each other a nod. Connor reloaded his Combat Rifle. Shaun reloaded his Laser Rifle and put on his helmet. Goosebumps overcame them both as their feet stepped onto the barge, which wobbled a slight with the weight of Shaun's armour. Slowly but surely, they crouched down together and began moving across the Colorado River, on route to the Fort. Where General Lee Oliver was, the man that had caused everything.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

 **01:18PM, SUNDAY MAY 17TH, 2282, THE FORT**

You'd think there was no life for miles. That is how calm the water was and the surrounding areas as the desert hills came into view. The Fort had been the base of Caesars Legion for years now, and nobody that wasn't part of the Legion even dared to come close. If there was anyone there that wasn't with them, they were either captive hostages or working slaves. Only two people hostile to the Legion had ever walked into the Fort and walked out to tell the tale. Boone, the man Connor befriended in Novac, was one of them. Caesar was dead now, and so was the Legion itself, near enough. It was General Oliver, though, that was keeping them alive and making sure they survived and thrived with his help and hopefully with the NCR's help. Nobody had to be a genius to guess that this wouldn't go down well at all. Connor and Shaun had been on the raft for almost two hours now, having only said a few things to each other since they set off from the bloodbath they left at Cottonwood Cove. Revenge, justice, the truth; there were many things that they could've been going for in their heads, but there was no certainty. Kirkbride, the former NCR-medic had counted up his ammo and loaded his 9mm pistol, same with his Combat Rifle and bandaged up his sliced hand on the barge. Shaun the BoS Paladin only serviced his Laser Rifle to make sure it wouldn't fuck up on him.

"Go in. Find him. Kill him." Connor muttered without eye contact to Shaun.

"You know it won't be that simple." Replied the Brother of Steel, sitting there in full armour. God knows how the barge stayed afloat with him wearing it.

Shaun did genuinely want to finish what this insane General had started, but he wanted it to find peace in the Mojave. Shaun wanted to hopefully find a place for his brothers. Connor didn't really know what he wanted in this situation, whether it was to find vengeance or to find out just exactly what everything that had transpired was for. One thing both men here on the barge could agree on, without even saying, was that they both wanted revenge and justice for the killing of Brendan. Seeing the large towering hill that the Fort stood on come into view was daunting for both men, even after all they'd been through up to now. Connor and Shaun looked at the force of nature that looked down on them like god looked down on the humans he created. Was this their fates in sight?

Finally after what seemed like an age, the barge washed up on the shore. Not a move for minutes, both men were still and frozen, almost not knowing how to proceed.

"We do this slowly. Let's not draw any unwanted attention. Not yet." Connor quietly told Shaun as he moved off of the large wooden barge.

The pressure of the situation was weighing in on Connor like he was swimming through a river of irradiated waste. Temptation was getting a little unbearable, having the full bottle of scotch from Cottonwood in his pocket. One sip is all it would take for the pressure to subside, but he had made the conscious decision in his own head to leave it for now.

Shaun stepped off of the barge and with the sudden loss of heavy metal weight, it seemed to float further to the surface of the River. Slowly Shaun lifted his helmet and put it on, once again becoming what looked like an emotionless trained killer. In some ways, that's exactly what he was. History might've never heard of such a thing until now, an NCR soldier and a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin both approaching the large high metal gates of the Fort. With the purpose of attack. Kirkbride leaned his head and ear against the warm metal to predict how dangerous the other side of the entrance was right now. Footsteps could be heard but it was impossible to say how many people they were coming from.

"Oliver is having a meeting soon, but you three are given clearance to be excused. We need you guarding the door." One Legionary said in his calm but evil sounding voice.

Connor then turned to Shaun who, even underneath his thick metal helmet, heard what was said. Both men silently nodded to one another following a hand signal from the former NCR soldier. Connor simple pointed his finger towards the door and then his thumb motioned to the river. They wanted the Legionaries to come through the gate.

Following the hand motions, Shaun stood up to his feet and kicked the gate hard, making it echo slightly throughout the small area.

On the other side of the gate, all three Legionaries, naively turned.

"Creatures?" One said.

"Probably, Lakelurks are common at the river." Another replied.

Voices were muffled for Connor and even more for Shaun but both could hear as the three Legionaries began opening up the gates. Kirkbride went prone and rolled behind a boulder stuck in the sand whilst Shaun just stood back against the gate hoping they would simply walk past him. Seeing three simple Legionaries wearing simple Crimson exit through the gate gave both men small and quick flashes of their fallen friend, and that was what they needed to do the job.

They had not seen Shaun, giving him the chance to move, alerting them, and grabbing one of them with both hands by the head.

"Look out! Intruder!" One of the three Legionaries blurted out.

Connor quickly but quietly made his way over and grabbed another from behind. Brendan's own machete was put towards the Legionaries throat, ironically, and sliced through it. Blood sprayed out of the man's throat like a broken water pipe. Shaun then kicked the screaming and squirming Legion soldier to his knees and held the back of his neck with one hand whilst pulling back his head with the other. Brutally the Legionaries neck broke in two and his blood covered throat became exposed through flesh and skin with a sickening snap. The power and strength in his armour was unbelievable. Connor saw this but wasn't fazed anymore, and they both turned their attention to the one remaining Legionary who didn't dare to make a single sound now. The poor but evil slaver looked from Connor to Shaun multiple times before looking back to the large inhuman looking Brother of Steel as he stepped towards him. Large steel steps making a louder clang every time.

After finishing off the three guards without firing a single bullet or laser, the two friends re-closed the gate but did not lock it, in case they were ever in need of a quick escape. As both soldiers of their own armies made their slow way into the Fort they could see above them up on one more hill there were large tall metal walls surrounding the camp of Legionaries. This would sure as hell be where General Oliver was. Connor and Shaun were spotted by a few people, but they were all slaves, carrying large heavy bags on their backs. Poor, dirty, hurt and tired slaves in ragged clothes. They looked exactly the same as the skeletons trapped in the Cottonwood Cove cage and the skeletons hung on Legion crosses throughout the Mojave, except still living. Neither man liked the sight of this anymore than they did back at the Cove. It infuriated them. Since Connor and Shaun seemed very out of place and were clearly here to hurt the Legion and make an attack, _all_ slaves saw but continued with their ordered jobs, not making a sound. Hoping deeply that they could be saved by these strange intruders, they all continued. Knowing the slaves would not alert the Legionaries above, both Kirkbride and Morse continued until they saw the metal stairs built into the sandy hill that would lead up to the _real_ entrance of the Fort. Even here, of all the places in the Mojave Wasteland, a mile across the river from actual mainland, New Vegas could still be faintly heard and that is all both men could hear whenever they stopped sneaking to take a look. Before proceeding, Shaun took a moment to speak to a Slave and hand him something, Kirkbride didn't notice. Connor now had his Combat Rifle equipped and the safety switched off, whist Shaun never drew his Laser Rifle until he definitely needed it. A fight was what they were expecting as soon as they opened the gates to the Legion camp. Slowly and surely they made their way. Connor was thinking about any small details his friend in Novac had old him those times they both drank at night in Ada's medical tent.

 _As you walked in, tents on either side, Legionaries everywhere_

Obviously now that statement wasn't as strong, since the numbers of the Legion had dwindled more than half since the Hoover Dam battle eight months earlier, but a statement they could stick to and expect nonetheless. Silence infected the area, apart from the mutters and murmurs of what was awaiting them both beyond the camps gates. Connor was crouched and moving whilst Shaun only walked. May have been slower but it made less noise to just walk. Finally they were in front of the gates, which felt as if they were both arriving at their final destinations. That is all they could think of, was this their final stop of their life long journey? Only one way to find out was to get in there and finish what had went on far too long. Connor looked at Shaun one more time and the large steel being that he looked like just nodded again. One more moment they took to themselves, to think about and picture everything that had led to this moment. As Kirkbride reached for the gate to open it he saw flashes of Camp Golf, Chief Hanlon, Brendan Sawyer, the killed child in Freeside and even Carrie Boyd. Sharply Connor threw open the gate to see the stock of a hunting rifle come straight towards his face. The former NCR soldier felt a blow that would lay out a Bighorner, saw a flash of white before everything went completely black and silent.

 _7:09PM, THE FORT, SIX HOURS LATER_

Letting out a gasp, catching a small amount of dust in his mouth, Connor awoke. Coughing, he sat up and found himself in a large Legion tent on a sleeping bag. He was met with by a Legionary Assassin in much larger intimidating Crimson. Two barrels of a Lever-Action Shotgun were pointed right into Connor's face as he moved to get up.

"Get that thing outer my fucking face!" Connor whacked away the gun.

With that, the Legionary landed a hammer punch straight to Connor's nose, almost breaking it. Connor went straight back down and couldn't believe to see the sky had turned black, with nothing visible but the stars. _How long have I been out?_ He wondered to himself. _Where's Shaun?!_ He suddenly thought.

"SHAUN!" Connor sat up again to shout.

This Legion Assassin once again turned around.

"You make another sound, NCR dog, and I'll have you thrown in the fighting pit with your friend." Said the Legionary with a sinister evil tone. He meant that, revealing where Shaun actually was.

Connor heard about this fighting pit, where the Legion put slaves and any other prisoners in to fight to the death. _Was Shaun dead? Had he even fought?_

"Well, we'll not lay that on him yet." Sternly said a very familiar voice with no face.

Connor looked to where the voice had come from and saw General Lee Oliver enter the area of the tent he was laying. Looking as proud, arrogant and as powerful as ever, standing with his head high and hands behind him, the General looked at Connor in confusion.

"Welcome to the Fort, you're actually in what was Caesar's own tent." Oliver told Connor.

"Who's that again? You're fucking idol?!" Kirkbride yelled whilst launching to his feet and lunging at the NCR General.

Connor pulled Oliver to the ground and a scuffle started to ensue, with Connor standing no chance, not having just woke up from a knock out. Legion guards came over, wielding Power Fists and Spears with a very sharp steel blades stuck to the tips.

"No! I got this!" Oliver told them while pinning Connor to the ground.

Oliver shoved Connor's face directly into the sandy, dusty ground, causing him to breathe it in thick and almost cough up his lungs. The strength of this man was immense, no wonder he was the NCR General, Connor couldn't budge a fucking inch.

"Now you cut this shit out, I don't know what the fuck you're doing here, but it wasn't expected, now you've given me a reason to have you killed. I won't but I might! Depending on your answers!" Oliver whispered angrily through his gritted teeth to Connor's ear.

Connor shuffled, squirmed and then got pinned even harder. Struggling to breathe he listened.

"Are you gonna fucking quit it!?" Oliver yelled.

After a few moments of silence, Connor slightly managed to nod his head. Instantly Oliver released the hold and Connor gasped for air, having to cough and spit out every bit of dust he could. Spear blades were pointed at him as he sat on his ass in the middle of Caesars old tent. Kirkbride was eventually dragged to his feet and had his wrists taped together. Connor stood in the middle now as he looked at the four guarding Legionaries and then turned to see Oliver sit down in Caesar's old seat. The seat was just how people had described it. Regular wooden seat covered in red cloaks with the back made up of wood and five metal sharp spears pointing towards the sky. An evil looking seat, that NCR General Lee Oliver had just sat in. It was a surreal and strange sight that Connor was jaw dropped to witness. He had been a solider with the NCR was so many years before his discharge that seeing his icon of a leader do such a thing had become a thought that seemed impossible, until now.

Oliver sat in the seat looking proud but out of place, with his NCR General suit still on. His NCR General Hat, studded with golden stars did not match the area he was surrounded by. The black sky haunted them above, as this Tent had no roof. That was reserved just for Caesars old sleeping area.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Oliver asked his former subordinate.

Oliver probably didn't remember who Connor was _exactly_ but he always remembered the faces of his solders. Kirkbride didn't respond, the image he was seeing still setting in.

"Why are you here?!" The General ordered an answer.

Snapping out of his trance, Connor stared at the General, slightly coughing again.

"I know about your plan. I know what you're trying to do." Kirkbride revealed.

"What exactly is that?" Oliver replied.

"You're trying to align the NCR with the remaining Legion forces."

"Broad statement."

" _True_ statement."

Oliver then smirked as he lent forward, only his head turned up at the NCR soldier he discharged.

"I've only been here two weeks, that's a quick judgment on what exactly I've been doing." Oliver smiled.

Connor was getting pissed. He grit his teeth.

" _We know_. Hsu knows, we know, and he will sure as hell tell the rest of the NCR troops." Connor growled.

"They listen to _me."_ Oliver was still confident in himself.

"That's a _bold_ statement from yourself… Lee." Connor addressed his former superior by first name. Believing him to now be no NCR General.

"Who the fuck even are you? Clearly you're NCR, but why is it you, and why the hell are you with a Brotherhood of Steel scumbag?" Oliver began his interrogation.

"I ain't NCR… Not anymore. Connor Kirkbride, Medic, Dishonourable Discharge. Think hard… You'll remember." Connor replied calmly and slowly.

General Oliver did indeed take a moment to himself to think. He leant back into the sickening seat and put one hand to his chin.

"Deserter?" Lee asked.

Connor wouldn't ever really _say_ it. Not to this man before him, he just nodded.

"You actually remember something about one of your soldiers. I'm stunned." Connor was getting dangerously sarcastic.

"I always think about my soldiers." The deluded General stated sternly.

"Then think about them _now_. What will these soldiers think of you, the man who ordered the death of Chief Hanlon? Twisted the mind of Lieutenant Boyd? Gave into the temptations of corruption and the idea of power?" The former NCR medic asked.

Oliver only listened, still with a smirk.

"The General who stole their funds, who left them without a word. You'll be nothing to them anymore, Lee. You'll be a traitor and a deflector." Connor had to add.

"You know that won't happen… And even if it did… Better to be branded a _deflector_ than a _deserter_." The General had to take a dig at Connor's past.

Anger wasn't the word for Connor here. He watched and listened as the man he used to idolize, who had killed his own, betrayed them behind their backs and sat in an evil man's chair mocked and belittled him for his past mistakes. All he did was stare back and let the fire boil in his chest.

"Yeah… I did all that. I took the funds, I came here, and I did this all in the best interest of the NCR. I _was_ thinking about my soldiers, always have been." Oliver began. "I know this idea would seem foul and disgusting to everyone who served under me, that's why it had to be a secret. To let me make the deal beforehand. Hanlon was just unfortunate enough to find out too much too early. So, Carrie Boyd, my best and most loyal soldier, offered to help me in any way possible, so she did the honourable thing to keep my plan in play. She promised to eliminate anyone who posed a threat."

How this man could defend Carrie Boyd's actions was beyond any rational person.

"She caused a firefight in Freeside. She tried to kill me and my two friends… And because of that… A child died. Then she _did_ kill my friend, a former legionary who saved my own life many times. He was a good man." Connor spat the truth out from beyond his teeth.

The General clearly didn't like the truth about the young child, but his stubbornness and fondness for Boyd infected his tongue.

"Collateral damage, never fortunate. Only the child, that is" Oliver bluntly put it.

Connor's face was completely blank and empty of any emotion. This man was evil, completely mad and beyond reason. Once a man treats the death of a good man as nothing and brands the death of a young child as 'Collateral damage' to his own dictatorship, he is all but lost.

Connor could have vomited with the foul words being spewed out.

"So why steal the NCR funds? What was the point of that?" Connor had to ask.

Oliver scratched his chin and didn't even hesitate.

"That was my plan to win the NCR over to side with the Legion. This Crimson army had to do _something_ to win the respect of my men. I took the funds to frame somebody for stealing them. Then the Legion _'_ _finds the thief' and kills them_. Thus returning the NCR funds and winning the acceptance of everyone."

Connor's eyebrows lowered, and with only a few seconds it was all explained. Oliver had stolen the NCR's 50,000 cap funds to frame the theft on someone else, have them killed, frame that very killing on the Legion and make it look like an act of good will. Undoubtedly clever, but a sick thing to do.

"… And you plan to frame Chief Hanlon? A very good man and an even better soldier?" Connor didn't even expect an answer.

Lee paused for a moment.

"Like I said. He found out too much too early, had to be taken out. Opportunity arose and he set himself up to be branded a traitor. The fund theft gets planted on him and he becomes the traitor that the Legion saved us from."

"That's why he had Legion spears stuck in him." Connor smirked and nodded, his eyes at the ground.

Oliver looked to Connor and raised his eyebrows.

"You've seen the body?"

"I have. Me and two other nobody's were ordered to find out the truth. Who killed Hanlon and where General Oliver is." Connor revealed.

"Wow, Colonel Hsu can be useful. Looks like you succeeded in your mission. I'd give you a ten out of ten for effort and succession."

Connor stood quiet and hardly moved. Finally he had been told the full truth and realised just exactly what had been happening behind things. It didn't take long to sink in, but he was sickened to his stomach at the amount of power corruption he was witnessing. "Now it's time to rest." Oliver began to stand from the chair.

Connor found himself grabbed from behind by the Legion guards and turned around to face the exit of the tent. He was led outside of the tent to see the large courtyard of tents that surrounded a huge metal walled circle. The fighting pit. Legionary solders were everywhere, but it was a noticeable and reassuringly small amount. _We could probably take all these out ourselves if we tried hard enough_ Connor thought as he looked and took in the surroundings.

"You're friend seems to have not even broke a sweat." Oliver pointed towards the arena-like circle. In this barbaric structure stood Shaun Morse, now armour-less, wearing only his recon outfit, looking down at the dead Legion solders they had been thrown into the pit to fight him. Not even tired, he had splats of blood on him practically everywhere. For only a couple of hours, the Brotherhood Paladin had fought three Legionaries and managed to kill all three of them. Blood patches were also in the sand in many quantities.

"He's tough. You want him dead, you use a bullet. But then again, even that might not work." Connor chuckled to himself.

"Then I think it's time _you_ tried, Kirkbride." Oliver whispered into his ear.

Connor's face fell and he turned his face to Oliver next to him. This evil dictator was throwing Connor into the fighting arena with Shaun.

"You can't do this… You _can't! You motherfucker!"_ Connor yelled angrily as he was dragged away by the Legion Assassins.

Oliver smiled and laughed as he watched the only man he thought knew the whole truth about his actions. General Lee had no idea of what was awaiting him down by the shoreline.

" _No! I'll fucking kill you!_ " Connor shouted, struggling to get free of his binds and the guards who held him.

Oliver only stood, guards either side, hands behind his back and smiled. He looked like a proud man in power, no doubt, but the evil nature that had now eaten him alive was clear as daylight.

" _I respected you! We loved you!_ " The former Medic screamed the truth, hoping that some small shed of mercy and good nature was left in the General. There wasn't.

Connor's binds were cut free and he hit the floor of the arena like a sack of shit as they threw him in. Breathing in more sand and dirt he then heard the gate of the pit shut behind him and the yells of the small Legion crowd begin. Slowly he got himself to his feet, battered and bruised him and Shaun were. Shaun looked at his friend now and couldn't believe that this is how they were always intended to end up. NCR vs. Brotherhood, now at the hands of the sick bastards called Caesars Legion. Shaun looked at the dead bodies around him one more time and then wiped away a small tear in his eye before assuming his fighting stance. _I'm sorry_ he kept stating out loud. Connor was stood on the other side doing exactly the same thing. Instead of assuming his fighting stance Connor simply but together his hands and revealed his brass knuckles, hidden inside the palm of his left hand glove. Not always their hiding place, but one of. Slipping on his always hidden weapon he then assumed his fighting stance. _Forgive me_ , he muttered. These statements from both men kept the crowd cheering, wanting to see the bloodshed between to comrades. Connor and Shaun then stopped for a moment to look up at Caesars tent. In front of it General Oliver still stood, hands behind him, head held high, like some kind of king or god.

 ** _FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!_** The crowd chanted constantly.

Both men in the arena listened to this and looked straight into each other's eyes and gave each other the signal. They both winked with one eye and then started running at one another. Legionaries roared as both men collided into a fight on the ground, kicking, punching and scratching at each other. Every other sound being silenced by the roaring crowd Shaun was able to whisper to Connor something only they could hear.

"This crowd is the big commotion signal, the slave knows now to fire it." Shaun told Connor.

"Alright, just keep this going." Connor whispered back.

Unknown to everyone but them, Connor and Shaun had earlier that day when they arrived at the Fort, Shaun had spoken to a slave. He had given over the flare gun to the man. Same flare gun that was Colonel Hsu and Paladin Hardin's signal to storm the Fort and wipe out any opposing forces. Connor then laid a punch to Shaun's face dropping him to the ground before climbing on top of him. Paladin Morse then defended himself and managed to get flip Connor into a choke hold.

At this time, as the crowd at the top of the hill was roaring, chanting and cheering, the Slave man down in the dark paths at the entrance area of the Fort knew that this was the time. _When you hear a big commotion at the top_ , he had been told by the man in the big armour. This slave man finally relieved his back and dropped the large crate he was carrying on his back and drew the flare gun. Probably hadn't even fired a gun before but this was a chance of freedom and safety from the Legion so without hesitation, he aimed it towards the sky and _boom_.

Everywhere it could be seen. Long and bright the smoke line and the red star-like beam of light now towered even higher than the Fort hill. General Oliver snapped out of his arrogant trance and his face and jaw dropped. Every Legionary in the crowd silenced and looked up. Connor and Shaun finally stopped fighting and lay on their backs to see the flare that would hopefully save their lives.

"ATTACK!" Oliver shouted to the Legionaries, alerting them of what this meant.

Every Legion soldier in the Fort then ran to the tents for their weapons, giving Connor and Shaun the opening they needed. Both men got to their feet, battered and bruised and headed for the arena exit. Never even locked it opened so easily and quick, then they both made a bee-line for the entrance. Shaun ran into a Legionary mid-run and was dragged to the ground.

"SCUM!" The Legion man shouted, punching Shaun's ribs.

Connor stopped to turn and then ran back to free his friend. **_WHAM!_** He just gave a very hard kick to the Legionaries head, almost knocking him out and definitely knocking him off of Shaun.

"Move it!" Yelled Colonel Hsu.

Down by the shoreline, a small Army of NCR soldiers and an even smaller battalion of Brotherhood Knights and Paladins were now on the fast move, making the ground rumble with their heavy and powerful steps.

Connor got to the first tent in the camp where his weapons had been kept and quickly found his 9mm pistol, Brendan's machete and Combat Rifle. Shaun's armour had not been destroyed, just kept at the entrance for hopeful use by the Legion themselves, but he was soon back into. As the armour consumed Shaun, Connor opened fire on the Legion hostiles who began shooting at them with their hunting rifles and shotguns. Shaun drew his Laser rifle and also returned fire. **BAM! BANG! BAM! BANG!** Was all that could be heard for miles. Within minutes, two Legionaries has been turned into ash piles that sizzled by Morse. Connor had managed to kill one Legion Assassin who had accidently walked right into his hail of bullets. Kirkbride fought the Crimson forces while trying to keep General Oliver in his sight at all times. In the corner of his eye he saw the General still at the top of the hill outside Caesars tent. Behind the cover of a crate he fired at them from that great distance with a 44. Magnum with a steal frame. No bullet was hitting them, yet he still fired. Oliver was there hoping to god this attack wasn't big and that his plan could still be fulfilled, but he almost knew that inevitably this was _not_ a small attack. Connor had known everything about Oliver's plan before he even told him the secret details, so there was no way Connor and Shaun were here alone with no backup. This NCR General knew he may have no way out. If only he could have realised this and called Connor's bluff earlier in the tent. Both of these men were just one step ahead, maybe one _fatal_ step ahead.

Shaun stomped his way over a few Legion Assassins, kicking one straight into the camp's metal wall, leaving a large dint. As one Assassin climbed his armour wielding a machete, Shaun grabbed the man off with one strong metallic arm and flipped him over hard to the ground. Shaun then curb stomped the Assassins head into nothing but pieces of skull, flesh and a puddle of blood. Suddenly this upper hand was short lived as a Legionary Assassin aimed and threw a sharp spear from a great distance right at Shaun. Hitting hard, the sharp blade on the tip burst right into the armours back, hitting the Fusion Core that powered it all. Exploding slightly, the core was destroyed, shutting the armour down. Shaun's back was revealed and an easy kill target as the armour opened itself back up. Kirkbride saw the Legionaries aim with their weapons but thankfully ran over sharply and fired his rifle.

 ** _BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!_**

In seconds three legion soldiers were torn down with bullet holes shaping on them and their bloody insides being exposed.

"Fuck!" Shaun shouted in anger as he exited the armour and took the Laser Rifle from its hands.

Both men were then in a crossfire and with no other option dived into one of the first tents by the camp entrance.

 **BAM! BANG! BAM! BANG!** The sounds kept going.

"You hit?!" Connor asked.

"No, you!?" Shaun replied.

"No, not yet. Where the fuck are they?!" Connor yelled, wanting to see the backup they signalled.

 **BOOM!**

Without another moment to wonder, suddenly, with a great huge explosion, the Fort's camp steel gates were blasted open by what had to be dynamite. Connor and Shaun watched from the first tent as both NCR troopers and Rangers entered, firing their rifles, revolvers _whilst_ the Brotherhood fired their deadly lasers.

"You keep fighting these fuckers, I can't let Oliver get away!" Connor shouted to Shaun over the deafening sounds of gunfire and lasers before getting up and sharply exiting the tent.

"Connor no!" Shaun said as Connor left the tent. "Fuck sake!"

Shaun then popped out his head from the tent and fired his Laser Rifle too.

NCR soldiers and Brotherhood Paladins tore up the Legionaries, as many were turned into Ash Piles and many got shredded by bullets. **BAM! BANG! BAM! BANG!** Not going down without a fight, however, the Legion fought back and managed to take down a few NCR soldiers with their Hunting Rifles. NCR heads popped into skull flesh pieces left, right and centre. Impossible to kill, were the Brotherhood Battalion, as their armour was almost completely bullet proof. In this commotion, Colonel Hsu made his quick way in behind his troops and his Steel allies.

"Alright! Take any Crimson out, find Kirkbride and Morse, and find our General!" He shouted, probably not even heard but they all knew the objective anyway.

As the Legion battled the NCR and Brotherhood in the main courtyard, General Oliver watched his camp burn before he began retreating to the empty parts of the Fort. Large sandy yards empty of people but full of tents that hadn't been slept in since before the Hoover Dam battle. Oliver hid in one of these tents to reload his Magnum. **BANG!** The corrupted General heard a gunshot that was clearly closer to him than the firefight in the courtyard. Missing him narrowly, the bullet hit the sand and Oliver saw outside the tent coming after him was Connor Kirkbride, now wielding only his 9mm Pistol. Before Connor could push the General out, he was attacked by a Legionary Assassin who threw him to the ground. No words said, this Assassin was trying to slice Connor's throat with a sharpened machete. Connor held the blade from his throat with his gloved hands before he managed to completely throw the Crimson-wearing killer off of him. Seeing his 9mm was too far off to grab in time, Kirkbride equipped Brendan's machete and both men engaged in what was like a sword fight. **_CLING! CLANG!_** The blades kept meeting each other. Neither of them managed to hit the other with swinging blows, but this gave General Oliver the opening he needed. He watched the machete duel and aimed his 44. Magnum to hopefully kill Connor flat out. Knowing exactly what was about to happen though, Connor saw a machete swing coming at him and ducked. Flying over his head the blade didn't touch him and Connor lifted a knee and planted it straight into the Assassins crotch. As Oliver squeezed the trigger, Connor grabbed the Legionary and held him in front of the coming bullet.

 ** _BANG!_**

The Magnum bullet went straight through the Legionaries head, spraying blood right onto Connor's face. Before anything else could be done, the dead body fell on top of the former NCR medic, pinning him down and thus opening another escape opportunity for General Lee. Kirkbride saw from under the heavy dead body Oliver ran over to one of the steel walls and kick open a secret exit. With all his might and strength, Connor got the dead weight off of him and took a moment to catch his breathe. Standing to his feet, Connor looked over to the sounds of the Courtyard battle and then to the secret wall exit. His head turned between them many times before he finally headed after General Oliver.

 **BAM! BANG! BAM! BANG!** The battle went on, but the Legion numbers started dwindling intensely, with under ten of them left. One Legion scum managed to get behind a NCR soldier and slice his throat, only to be lasered down quickly to ash by the Brotherhood. An NCR Ranger was almost as invincible as any Brotherhood Paladin with his own armour and was a marksmen with his Anti-Material Sniper rifle. Without even using the sights on the weapon, he blew away three Legion soldiers with hardly any effort. All three of their bodies were pushed many feet away with the power of the Anti-Material rounds. Finally, after what did indeed seem like an eternity, the fire that was being returned stopped. Hardin had to step him.

"CEASE FIRE!" He yelled, thundering throughout the courtyard.

All weapons echoed and faded to silence. Wind blew through the area now teeming with dead bodies and blood. Bullet holes were everywhere, smoke from every gun round was surrounding them all like a weak fog. Every soldier from both factions slowly lowered their weapons and took a moment of silence, for knowing they had survived and for their own dead comrades.

"It's over, they're finished." Paladin Hardin stated to everyone.

Everyone stayed quiet, until Colonel James Hsu stepped out.

"Morse! Kirkbride!" He shouted. Wanting to find his two men.

 ** _Bang!_** A gunshot was heard in the distance.

"Alright, you all stay here, get the bodies into one pile!" Hsu ordered his men and Hardin whilst he took off towards the bullet sounds.

 ** _BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_** Oliver fired in Connor's direction. The metal secret door was an exit to a sand and dirt bath that led down to the shore on the opposite side of the Fort, where Oliver had his own small barge to escape. Connor would never let this happen. He had took cover behind another boulder as Oliver fired off one more round which became his seventh of an eight bullet capacity. Connor knew Lee had only one round left but _he_ had a full clip. Oliver then turned around to run further towards the Colorado River and his barge. Desperate wasn't the word, Oliver was still breathing, but with the Legionaries now wiped out, he had failed and his plan was lost.

"You're dead, Connor! Like everyone else!" Oliver yelled while running, his ego taking over on what could be the last ever occasion.

Connor sprinted after him, with nothing in mind but one thing: Revenge. Was the revenge for the death of Brendan? The death of the poor child? Was it the death of everyone involved here? Or was it deep down because this man had discharged him from his purpose in life? Did Connor want this man dead for all the pain he had caused _him_ and not anyone else?

Floating calmly the barge came into sight and Oliver ran to the rope anchoring it to shore. Connor finally reached him and with only a distance of fifty yards between them, he fired a bullet which hit the water. **_BANG!_** It echoed. Oliver stopped untying the rope and froze.

"Hands up now! Drop the magnum!" Connor ordered his former leader.

General Lee didn't obey the orders, he instead spun around faster than anything Connor had seen and fired his final round. One step ahead however, Connor was again. Kirkbride dropped to the ground while Oliver span around and then **_BANG!_** The last Magnum round hit the sand behind Connor, missing him completely. Laying in the sand on his side, the former NCR medic had his 9mm Pistol aimed and pointed straight at Oliver. Slowly now, silently, Oliver felt defeated. Raising his hands as told, he dropped the Magnum which seemed to sink into the sand it was so heavy. Hands and arms raised high above his head, Oliver stood as Connor got himself back to his feet and faced his former General eye to eye from a good fifteen feet parting. Connor still had his 9mm right in front of him pointing at Oliver. Silence infested the area again, with the only sounds to accompany them coming from the river behind the General. Moments went by that felt like hours, Connor didn't know whether to fire or not, did he _really_ want this? Did he really come this far to end the life of his former Leader? Or was this just to prove himself? The question from the journey here came back. Was this revenge? Justice? The truth? Or was it the thing that finally entered Connor's head and left him without any doubt of his own motives. Was this Redemption? Oliver watched his ex-soldier as he clearly seemed conflicted on whether or not to kill him. The General looked sad, and almost pitied the man he had thrown away. Connor squeezed the trigger harder, but it seemed to not want to fire. A tear began to fill each of his eyes, and a large fire seemed to erupt inside his chest. Sweat started running down his head, and Connor watched as Oliver seemed to look at him in a Father-like manner. _I know, you can't, I understand_ , is what Oliver was thinking, and that is what words Connor felt from him. As Oliver now knew Kirkbride was very unlikely to shoot him, he started to lower his arms and hands. With this, Connor slowly lowered the pistol and the tears finally ran down his cheeks. At last the pistol was pointed to the ground and the discharged medic's head fell into his left hand as he breathed hard. Eyes shut, Connor didn't see. Oliver's right hand slowly reached behind his back and grabbed a hold of a different hidden gun. No way was Oliver ever letting this man live. With Kirkbride still looking away, the evil traitor General pulled out this secret 357. Revolver. Aiming it at his former soldier, Oliver felt a rush of fire on his hand. **_BWONG!_** A long screech was heard in the air as time seemed to freeze. Connor snapped out of his emotional trance and looked up to see the secret revolver flying out of Oliver's now burnt hand. Turning his head, Connor saw, up the hill a few yards away, Shaun Morse had shot the revolver out of Oliver's had with his Laser Rifle. Looking back to Oliver who was in shock, Connor, without any emotion, hesitation and a blank face raised his pistol with one hand.

 ** _BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!_** The 9mm bullets hit Oliver in the chest and not one of them missed. Large fleshy red holes formed on the General's body as blood sprayed with them. **_BAM! BAM! BAM!_** The last three rounds in the clip were fired, leaving three more death wounds on the General. Time still felt slower as Lee Oliver fell back onto the sandy ground with a thud. Nine bullet wounds and a roasted hand, the man was still gasping for air on the ground looking up into the sky at the stars. Connor Kirkbride took a moment, wide eyed and controlled his breathing. Lowering his empty pistol he turned to Shaun. Shaun Morse lowered his laser rifle and then dropped to the floor to sit. Both men looked at each other and then back to the dying Lee Oliver who's gasps were getting ever slower. Shaun didn't want any part of Oliver's final moments, as he didn't even have the right. Connor however, slowly walked over to his now dying former leader. Staring at the stars, Oliver's eyes were getting dry and feral like. His pupils then met Connor who crouched over him in a bedside manner. Lee Oliver breathed heavily, blood around his mouth and all over his chest. Lee's eyes looked at Connor, then to the stars and then to Connor's NCR badge that was sewn to his uniform. Slowly and weakly the dying General pointed to the small NCR flag sign before the hand and arm dropped. Connor's eyes were filling again. This man had been turned by the hunger for power and had been twisted into a very corrupt individual, but at his heart, all that was there was one thing: the NCR.

"I…" Oliver coughed. "Just… wanted them… to stay strong" He then wretched.

Oliver, in his last words, revealing everything he had done, was indeed for the NCR. Whether that was forgivable, understandable or not was a different matter for a different time. Kirkbride consoled the dying General and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah… I know." Connor comforted him. Everything the man had did was wrong, but Connor knew right now that it was the need for the NCR to stay powerful that had corrupted him.

It was at this moment that Colonel Hus arrived at the top of the hill, too late. Arriving to see only a dead looking Lee Oliver on the ground, and saw Connor next to him while Shaun sat alone many feet away. Hsu realised what had happened and did the same as Shaun. Colonel Hsu slowly sat down on the ground. In his final moments, Oliver lifted his right hand up and reached out to Connor, who then gave his own hand and held Oliver's. For another few minutes, as Shaun watched, Connor held Lee's hand as he slowly breathed his final breaths and gazed at the night sky and stars above. Then… finally… the grip on Connor's hand loosened as he stared out at the vast river in front of him.


	16. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

 **10:34AM, TUESDAY MAY 19TH, 2282, CAMP MCCARRAN**

A full two days had past as the sun scorched the broken landscapes of the Mojave. All of the NCR Soldiers had travelled and trekked all the way back to McCarran. Twenty four hours before that they had split with the battalion of Brotherhood Paladins and Knights.

"Thank you for your help, Hardin." Colonel Hsu had said shaking the Paladin Commanders hand.

"Hope this can win us some freedom here in the Mojave." Hardin smiled back.

"I'm certain we can negotiate a deal. I'll see you at McCarran soon, you have free entry now." Hsu told him.

Shaun Morse however decided to stay on the road to McCarran first rather than returning with his Brother's. After everything that had happened, at the Fort and before, Morse wanted complete closure, and he was only going to get it with Connor back at the NCR camp. As they walked miles towards the NCR base, funny things were being said by the Soldiers.

 _He was a hero_ Connor heard. _Those bastards took him from us_ Shaun overheard at one point.

As they arrived at the large wooden gates of McCarran they were in the main base and into the Terminal Building sharply. Connor and Shaun had said nothing since they set off from the Fort. With cuts, bruises, knife gashes and bullet wounds on them, both men had been through their own small war. Bags as thick as large sacks were under their eyes, as they hadn't fully slept in days. Colonel Hsu took a few moments to turn around to the remaining troops from the Fort battle.

"Men, what we accomplished two days ago could not have been done without your skills, strength, loyalty and inevitable bloodshed. You all should be proud of what we did. Thanks to you, Caesars Legion has been eradicated." Hsu gave a proud speech.

Connor and Shaun had to listen to this. As much as the Legion were evil in some of their ways and did set upon their might and will on others, was their complete annihilation necessary? Deep down both men did have a shred of guilt for what they had done. But they also knew the means justified the end. Whether they could live with that or not, they would see.

Hsu lead both Connor and Shaun privately into his office in the Terminal Building, where this mission had begun for them. Everything seemed to be coming full circle, apart from the presence of their third friend.

"Sit, please, both of you." Hsu said calmly and quietly.

Pulling out the wood chairs, Kirkbride and Morse sat in them without saying a word or making a sound.

"Now, I know what happened, but what I'm about to tell you both cannot leave this room." Hsu began.

Connor looked from the dusty office floor to his Colonel. Shaun sat back and gazed at the ceiling.

"I lied to my men. I did. I couldn't do it. I knew that if I told them General Lee Oliver was a traitor and deflector, they would not believe it. I feared they may have thrown down their beret's right there." Hsu revealed. "Please understand, they needed motivation to do what they did. I told them a lie. I told them General Oliver had been captured by the Legion remnants. I told them the Legion did indeed kill Chief Hanlon _and_ Carrie Boyd."

Connor listened as the words played hell with his ears. However, Connor did not fight the words. He had done enough of that. Shaun deep down always suspected this would be the case.

"You made him out to still be the icon they loved." Connor said directly into Hsu's eyes.

"Yes. I had to. I feel sick myself, but there was no other statement they would believe." Hsu responded. "I'd like to apologize to you both formally. I ordered you two and Sawyer to find out the truth, and that is what you did. Unfortunately the truth cannot be exposed to anyone else. If my men find out their General became a traitor who tried to align them with the evil Legion, they would abandon their army and the NCR would fall."

Hsu was telling the painful truth, and he had known this the entire time. _Are you any better than General Oliver?_ Connor thought to himself. Lying to your entire forces and the entire Mojave about the truth was a broken way to approach the situation, but in this wasteland, but all three of them knew sometimes the wrong choices are made to get the desired result.

"I just want you both to agree, and understand that we're keeping the truth to ourselves in order to keep peace and prosperity in this wasteland. We can thrive now. We'll make a deal with the Brotherhood to align forces and make the Mojave much safer. Civilians can stop living in fear and know that everything is over." Hsu said with a smile.

Shaun did however, like this idea. He had set off on this mission and journey to not only unite with his Brothers, but also help find them a better place in the Mojave rather than probably dying on the journey back to the Capital Wasteland.

Connor did agree, even though he felt the taste of vomit in his mouth. Knowing every person in the Mojave would think of Oliver as a fallen hero and icon was disgusting, especially knowing what had happened because of his actions. That dead child in Freeside now would never get any justice. Brendan's death would never be publicly known and his murderer, Boyd, would be hailed as a fallen soldier too. Wrong. It was all wrong. But it was also, in some strange way… right.

"Now, I know Morse will be getting a promotion and great gratitude where he comes from in the Brotherhood, but Kirkbride. I need to offer you something for your services." Hsu looked to his former soldier.

"I'm giving you the opportunity now to re-join the Republic as an NCR Ranger." Hus revealed, much to Connor's surprise.

Wide eyed again, Connor sat there in his own little world, wondering whether or not this was really a good idea. Of course he wanted this, he always _did_. But now that the offer was in front of him to take, he was conflicted.

"It's up to you. You can sign here and now, go and collect your armour and be assigned to your duties." Hsu told him, not expecting answer yet.

Shaun even turned to Connor in a supportive way. _Take it, you know you want this_ Shaun was thinking. Kirkbride finally began to nod slightly and reached his hand out to grab the pencil and the paper. After scribbling his signature on the dotted line again, he shook Colonel Hsu's hand.

"Thank you, Colonel." Kirkbride said, nodding once.

"My pleasure. Now, I'd like to ask once more if we agree on the way we will now go forward." Hsu asked.

Moments passed.

"Understood." Connor said, looking away.

"Fine." Shaun followed, doing the same.

Both men walked out of the office and were looked at by all the soldiers in the building as they headed for the armoury again. Déjà vu was what they were feeling, except they were one man less. Shaun dropped the 10mm pistol back where he had taken it from and left Connor alone in the room. The now NCR-Ranger opened up a large trunk and found some good quality Ranger armour. He looked at it, had a small smile before sighing and looking to the ground.

 _02:34PM, MONDAY MAY 25_ _TH_ _, 2282, MOJAVE WASTELAND, SIX DAYS LATER_

By this point Shaun had been promoted up to Brotherhood Paladin Commander as Hardin had been moved up to Paladin Lord. Shaun had been honoured and never felt happier in his life now. Today was a special and emotional day for both him and Connor. As he walked with the NCR Ranger, helmet on, eyes glowing red, Shaun could feel Connor's emotions were still mixed even over a week now after what happened at the Fort.

"Here we are." Connor said from beyond the Ranger helmet.

In the distance they could see a wooden cross. They were both high up a sandy, dusty hill that was Goodsprings Graveyard. Bark Scorpions had come for them, but as both men were fully armoured and equipped, they didn't last seconds. Finally, after a day's walk, they both came face to face with the secret grave of Brendan Sawyer. Marked with only the letters and words ' ** _B. S_** **awyer,** ** _Brave until the end_** **."** It would avoid any uproar with the residents of Goodsprings. Connor didn't get too emotional as he took off his helmet and crouched down in front of the nicely done grave. Brown dirt surrounded by big rocks and looked over by a wooden cross sign, it was like any other grave, but to them it was more. Kirkbride and Morse had asked for his grave to be made in Goodsprings Cemetery due to the fact that Brendan's final decision to leave the Legion to find redemption was made in this very town a year ago. Connor and Shaun had not seen his burial because they hadn't wanted to. They had seen his body looking peaceful and wanted to remember him that way.

"We finished it, man." Connor whispered to the grave, watery eyed. "Without you, we wouldn't be where we are now. I wish it could've been different for you."

Connor pulled out of his pocket his old NCR dogtags from his first few years in the Republic and hung them around the right side of the cross. Shaun then stepped forward.

"Brendan… I'd never met anyone as good natured as you. The world isn't a good place, and that's why you're better off out of this Wasteland. You're safer now, and you'll find acceptance up above." Shaun said what might've been his most truthful sentence.

Shaun surprised even Connor when he pulled out his own made Vexillarius helmet. Those warm and comfortable helmets that Brendan was extremely fond of and hung it by its mouth on the _left_ side of the cross.

Shaun and Connor then got back to their feet, after Connor grabbed a handful of sand.

"Thank you." Connor whispered as he sprinkled the sand onto the grave, as he always did to his fallen friends.

Ranger Kirkbride and Paladin Commander Morse both then turned to leave the cemetery.

 _08:47PM, WEDNESDAY MAY 27_ _TH_ _, NEW VEGAS STRIP, TWO DAYS LATER_

 ** _POW! BANG!_** Fireworks were set off from the ground of the New Vegas strip and exploded in the sky. Tonight was the night of the celebration. A huge Vegas sized party for the union of the NCR and the Brotherhood. Crowds of drunk Brotherhood Paladins, Knights and NCR soldiers cheered and roared. Many were shaking hands, hugging one another in friendship and communion. Even strippers and prostitutes were in on the action, lap dancing and making out with men and women from either factions. **_BOOM! BOOM!_** More fireworks were let off, spreading themselves far above even the Lucky 38 Casino tower. Within the roaring, yelling, deafening crowd, Connor Kirkbride and Shaun Morse were calmly next to the fountain outside the Ultra-Lux casino. Connor was sitting on the edge of the fountain as Shaun leant back on it. They knew that this wasn't just a celebration of union and friendship of two factions… It was to celebrate the fall of Caesars Legion but also the life and 'sacrifice' of NCR General Lee Oliver. Feeling happy for one reason but painfully ill because of the other, Shaun and Connor decided to not celebrate, as only the two of them, along with Colonel James Hsu knew the _real_ truth about what had happened in the past three weeks. Hsu however, still took the opportunity to celebrate and party with everyone else. The new NCR Ranger and new Paladin Commander could not celebrate, they just could not bring themselves to pretend and fake happiness.

After a good hour of sitting, chuckling a little and watching they both finally put on their helmets and walked together through the insane crowd. Everywhere they looked were smiles and cheers. Happiness and Victory. It was nice to see, but Connor and Shaun would never join in. General Oliver, the man responsible for many deaths of innocents and a man that at his core had betrayed the army he lead, was being hailed as a war hero. Along with his accomplice, Lieutenant Carrie Boyd. Not a single mention of what happened in Freeside and there would _never_ be a mention for the former Legionary who more than proved himself. Wearing both of their factions' respective armour, Connor and Shaun walked together and appeared as a representation and shrine of the now united forces. Both gritted their teeth and doused the anger inside of them as they walked their way out of the strip to accept the harsh reality of the world they were ultimately still in.

 _09:14PM, WEDNESDAY MAY 27_ _TH_ _, GOODSPRINGS CEMETARY, 27 MINUTES LATER_

New Vegas' fireworks could be seen from even here, and the loud cheering celebration could be heard just as easily. Everything seemed to be happy over there as Brendan Sawyer stood by his own grave. Using his apparent 'death' as a way of escaping his life in the Mojave, Brendan had managed to completely survive the two bullet's he took in Freeside. In McCarran he had made it a sure thing that Doctor Kemp would never reveal Brendan's true fate. Now he stood over his own grave, having watched Connor and Shaun speak to him spiritually days before.

"Thank you both too." He just whispered out loud while watching the firework explosions, lights and cheers of New Vegas in the distance.

 _06:09AM, THURSDAY MAY 28_ _TH_ _, MOJAVE WASTELAND_

After a full night of walking, Brendan Sawyer had made his way to the very end of the Mojave Wasteland and the state of Nevada. He looked up at a destroyed traffic sign above the cracked and crumbled road full of wrecked old cars and trucks. Two gecko's spotted him and even with his stiff body and limp thanks to his serious almost fatal bullet wounds, he managed to kill both of these screeching creatures with a new machete.

Looking up the scratched and broken sign read " **SAL LAKE CITY, TAH**."

Brendan had heard about Utah, and heard that it was meant to be a more peaceful place. Well… as peaceful as any place in this post-apocalyptic world could be. Still… anywhere that wasn't the Mojave or California was better for this man. Knowing he would never ever be accepted in the Mojave Wasteland, his home, due to his past, Brendan was using his 'death' as a means to escape. Escape to a better place and begin the rest of his days with a new life. Not having a definitive destination in mind and knowing his journey would be a recklessly hard one, he remembered that Shaun Morse had told him the Capital Wasteland was a good place for anyone. With that in mind, and knowing _that_ destination may take at least a year to reach, Brendan Sawyer, the redeemed Legionary put on the Vexillarius helmet that Shaun had hung on his grave and with his large backpack of supplies and weapons, he set off. With a happy and relieved smile, he no longer felt the demons inside of him anymore. Thanks to two other men, once a disgraced NCR soldier and a mentally fractured Brotherhood Paladin now reunited with his family, Brendan had now accepted everything about himself.

All three of them were bleak souls, lost in the midst of darkness, brought together by each other… into the light.

 **THE END**


End file.
